


Maria's Adventures: Second Half Start! Fishman Island!

by CrossingTheFourthWall



Series: Maria's Adventures [18]
Category: One Piece, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, I've got a few Pokemon popping in here, Post-Timeskip, because Maria being Maria is breaking the plot a bit, just a bit, juuuust a bit, picks up after the training one-shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-01-31 08:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 72,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12678600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossingTheFourthWall/pseuds/CrossingTheFourthWall
Summary: Maria returns from two years of training to reunite with the Straw Hats! But something is a little different this time -- not only has she recovered all the memories previously thought lost, but she also has new tricks to use. Whatever it is that awaits them in Fishman Island, far below the Red Line, may or may not be expecting what it is she brings with her.





	1. Return to Sabaody!

A figure leapt over the side of a ship with effortless, practiced ease, the ground squelshing under deep red boots that had a metallic sort of look to them. The boots’ owner looked up at the others on the ship and grinned. “Thanks for all the help, guys. I wouldn’t have gotten my memories back if it wasn’t for that island.”

“It was no problem on our part.” The dark-haired teenage girl leaning against the ship’s railing shrugged, wings on her back fluttering a little at the movement. “It should be us that are thanking you – you gave us hope that we could get our captain back.”

“Not as much as I’d have liked to.” Bright blue eyes darkened a little. “All I really did was nearly wreck your island most of the time.”

“Hey, the people in TransTown loved you.” A man with a guitar slung over his back grinned maybe a bit too widely. “And you helped them expand a lot more than we ever did, so that’s definitely a good thing!”

The figure on the ground laughed. “Well, that’s one way of putting it!” She paused, tilting her head to one side as her brown hair slumped over her shoulders. “Are you sure you don’t want her necklace? You could end up running into her just as much as I could.”

“I’m certain. If there’s anyone who has a chance of returning it to her, it’s you.” The girl with wings fixed the other with a serious look. “Good luck, Maria. You’re going to need it in the New World. When you find Airam and bring back Myra, make sure to tell her where it is she can find us.”

“Will do!” Maria gave a salute with one hand, then turned and walked into the Sabaody Archipelago. As she walked, she pulled up the hood of her orange jacket, obscuring her face from view.

“Time to find the rest of my crew,” Maria murmured to herself. She held out her right hand, and a red staff appeared in her hands with a flash, a firebird carved into the top with wings outstretched. “It’s been two years…I don’t know how much they’ve changed, but I bet they’ll still be the same.” A grin crossed her face as she zipped up her jacket, hiding her red T-shirt from view as well.

It was an old, familiar outfit, but Maria still felt it was a good one.

**Maria’s POV**

The archipelago itself didn’t really look all that different from what I remembered from two years ago. There was something…different in the air, though. A different kind of tension from the one I’d felt here two years ago, when the Celestial Dragons ran rampant.

And when Kuma had forced me to separate from the rest of the Straw Hats.

The buildings looked a little more beaten up, for example, and there were a lot more people wandering around in scruffy clothes than I remembered seeing before the Auction Incident where Luffy punched a Dragon.

The locals definitely looked a lot more wary than they had been, too.

I stuck a foot out as I passed a pirate leering at a young woman. His face hit the sappy ground, and I smiled under my hood as I nodded to the young woman before continuing on my way as she bolted in another direction. The smile faded after a moment, though, as the pirate scrambled to his feet behind me and looked around for the person who tripped him.

“Should have figured there’d be a lot more pirates around here, if the Marines moved bases,” I muttered, thinking back to the newspapers that sometimes came up on shore of the Memory Isle. It may have been in a Calm Belt, but that didn’t mean that Sea Kings didn’t stir up the waters around ship wrecks every once in a while. Pirates who tried to enter the Grand Line “the easy way.”

We did get some of our news a _different_ way, though, but I wasn’t planning on thinking about that right now. There were…darker sorts of news that had come from that.

I skirted a swordfight in the middle of the street as others scattered or gathered around, jeering and yelling names.

“If I beat you, then _I_ get to join Straw Hat’s crew and _you_ don’t!”

I stopped short and looked back. “What was that?”

One of the guys at the back of the crowd – scruffy-looking, worn clothes, and a rather ugly mug like the rest of them – looked back at me with a disbelieving expression. “What, you mean you haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?” I turned fully and planted my staff in the ground in a meaningful movement.

“Straw Hat Luffy is back after two years! He’s planning on going wild in the New World, but he needs a bigger crew in order to do it! He’s meeting later today – and we’re all gonna see about joining him!” The man cackled. “Man, I can’t _wait_ to serve under _that_ guy!”

I blinked blankly at the man’s words. Was Luffy _really_ looking for new crewmates? I was pretty doubtful of it – he didn’t just pick people willy-nilly, and especially not like this.

No, there had to be something else going on.

“Doesn’t sound like something for me,” I said flatly.

The man shrugged. “Suit yourself. More of a chance for the rest of us.” He went back to watching the sword fight as a loud cry went up from the rest of the crowd.

I snorted and rolled my eyes before I turned and started going down the street again. My foot crunched against something, and I looked down.

A flier, with _our mark,_ advertising the exact thing that the man had just talked about.

I looked to the left and to the right, and when I didn’t see anyone else nearby watching me, I sent a burst of flames down my leg and set the flier on fire.

Someone was using _our_ name to get people to join _their_ crew? That was going to backfire horribly.

“Now the question is, do I crash this guy’s party or do I find my crew and we crash it together?” I sucked the fire back up through my leg, leaving ashes of the flier behind. “It wouldn’t exactly be fun without them, and I kinda want to see how everyone’s been doing, first.” I tilted my head to one side for a moment. Shakky’s Bar _had_ been the decided-on meeting place – everyone knew that – but I could still run into people making my way there. Probably.

Max and her crew – the Purple Pirates, minus their captain – had gotten me as close as they could to the grove the bar was at. It wouldn’t make sense to go in any other directions before then.

“All right, Shakky’s it is,” I murmured to myself.

I started moving down the street again, into a more battered area of the street. Fewer locals were walking around now, and more pirates. Must have been another lawless—

_Bang!_

I stopped in front of another bar when I heard the gunshot. The building looked like it’d seen better days, and the door was one of those swinging saloon ones, so I could hear what was going on inside.

I was just close enough to hear a man’s voice – sneering and loud – say a few things that caught my attention.

“A 55 million Beri bounty? Check the poster once again! It says ‘At least 70 million Beri bounty!’ We’re not gonna deal with captains with a lower bounty! How did you guys even get here, safely?”

I started to move closer to the partially open doorway.

“Go away, pest. Don’t you know that I’m the Revolutionary Dragon’s son?!”

Another gunshot went off as I was about to step towards the open door and into the bar itself, causing me to pause.

That… did _not_ sound like Luffy.

I stepped into the bar and quickly squirreled myself away to a table in an unused corner. No one noticed me come in, which I found as something of a relief.

Mostly because my eyes, like everyone else’s, were on the group sitting at the VIP table.

A large, burly man with a familiar yellow mask, a short, skinny man with blue hair, a woman with a stomach and short orange hair (with an ugly face to match), a _little_ girl with an orange jacket and a red dress, and a large, potbellied man with a straw hat that had definitely seen better days.

I could see a sort-of resemblance, but these people were _not_ the Straw Hats. If anything, they were cosplayers who didn’t have everything they needed to match the originals.

I gripped my staff more tightly. These people thought they could just take our names and slip in like they were the ones who had left two years ago, huh?

And just when we actually _were_ starting to come back together. Great.

“He’s so merciless,” muttered one of the bar patrons near me.

“Can’t be helped,” said another sitting next to him. “He has achieved a lot.”

The fake Luffy leaned back on the couch he and our dopplegangers were sitting on. “Hey, Franky. How many people we got so far?”

“About one hundred people,” came a rasping reply. Sounded like he was more of a chain smoker than Sanji, and that was saying something. “Three whole pirate groups have joined us. Ten of them are with a bounty.”

That many people were that eager to join, huh? Probably just because they wanted to ride on the coattails of our fame.

My fingers itched; I recognized the need to strike at people who were in the wrong. I held back, though; I didn’t want to reveal myself in the middle of this place, without everyone else to back me up.

“Luffy” started going on about rookies who were joining up with them, including a brother-pair of captains named “Caribou” who were known for killing Navy officials. If they were interested in joining this fake crew and were probably in Sabaody, they were definitely a pair to keep an eye out for, along with everyone else.

“Oh? And you, woman, who’s been there for quite a while.”

I looked up at “Luffy’s” voice, jolted out of my thoughts a little. I noticed then that he wasn’t looking at me – he was looking at an orange-haired woman sitting at the bar. From where I was sitting, I could only see the jeans she was wearing and the thin strap of something going across her back under her orange hair, which went down to her lower back. Did she just have a _bra_ on and nothing else up there?

Wait. Orange hair?

“Stop drinking alone quietly and come join us!” “Luffy” called. “She’s cute.”

“Pervert,” I muttered under my breath.

The woman didn’t move. “Luffy” noticed.

“Hey, sister, can’t you hear me?!”

“Hey, he’s talking to you,” muttered the bartender.

There was silence for a moment. Then the woman sighed.

“That’s okay. I’m waiting for someone.”

I sat straight up in my chair. I knew _that_ voice.

I grinned under my hood. I couldn’t believe how much she had changed, but something told me she was still the same despite how she looked.

I slipped away from the table and came up to the bar. My shoes hitting the wooden floor made a bit of an echo as I sat to her right. She didn’t turn her head towards me, but I could feel the gazes of the others sitting at their tables on me.

“Something tells me we might be waiting for the same person,” I said.

The woman turned her head slightly.

“And who the hell are you?!” “Luffy” demanded harshly. “Hey, sister, get over here – we don’t have enough beautiful women on our crew, if you know—“

I leaned back and glared at him from under my hood. “She’s not interested. Bug off, you potbellied moron.”

The tension in the room increased rather abruptly at that while “Luffy’s” expression darkened. The little girl sitting next to “Nami” was staring at me with an angered expression.

The woman next to me rolled her eyes at my comment; I could see the flicker of a smile cross her face for a second.

Was that little girl what they thought I looked like? Well, they were going to be in for a real shock.

“H-hey, you’d better apologize,” the bartender hissed at me. “That’s Straw Hat Luffy! Remember? He’s the crazy pirate who burst into the War of the Best two years ago!”

“Is that what they’re calling it now?” I turned my head to look at him. Even if he couldn’t exactly see my eyes, he still flinched back. “I should think that the people who survived it are calling it something different and a little closer to the truth.”

The bartender gained an uncertain expression at my words.

The man with the yellow mask laughed. “You’re waiting or someone, huh? He must be a wimp who’ll apologize once he hears Captain Luffy’s name! So come here now!”

The woman turned to look at them. “I’m only going to say this once – you’re no match for me, so I’m not going to drink with you!”

I blinked, impressed. Nami – for it _was_ Nami – had gotten a lot more confident since I’d last seen her.

“What?” “Luffy” didn’t look like he was completely comprehending Nami’s words.

“Do you understand, Straw Hat…who?”

I started snickering, even though I was the only one who was making any noise.

“Did you just say ‘who’?!” “Luffy” definitely sounded like he was getting it now, and he wasn’t liking what he was hearing. He stood up. “I’m Straw Hat Luffy!”

“H-hey, you better apologize!” the bartender hissed. “You’re in danger!”

I pulled up my hood a little, showing more of my face. I raised an eyebrow. “This no-name giving you more trouble than he’s worth, sir? I don’t think you really ought to be worried about him. He probably wouldn’t even be able to make it to Fishman Island at this rate.”

I saw “Luffy’s” face twitch as Nami smiled a little and the bartender stepped back nervously.

“Luffy” started to raise his pistol as the door creaked open behind us. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, the both of you!”

“Nami” got up and put a hand on her weapon; my lookalike got up, too. “Let us handle it.”

“Yeah.” My lookalike gave a grin that should not have been on a little girl’s face.

The two of them started coming over, and I turned in my seat a little.

“Hey, you!” “Nami” sneered. “You’re a funny woman.” She slipped between me and Nami and pointed the pistol at her. “I’ll make it easier for you. Are you gonna drink with Captain Luffy? Or do you wanna die?”

“And are you gonna apologize to Captain Luffy? Or do _you_ wanna die?” The little girl pointed at me accusingly. I could see little firecrackers poking up from under the sleeves of her jacket.

I turned around and looked down at the kid – she probably only came up to my waist, no higher. “You’re a bit too small to have firecrackers up your sleeves, kid. Go home; a pirate’s ship is no place for you.”

“Nami” turned her head to look at me sharply as the little girl stared at me, wide-eyed.

“I am _not_ a kid!” the kid snapped. “I’m Fire Storm Maria! I’ve got a 235 million Beri bounty!”

Oh yeah, that’s right; they’d changed my title. I guess my presence at the Marineford Massacre really made an impression on the higher-ups that “Fire Staff” wasn’t enough of a moniker.

“Well, that’s funny.” I threw back the hood of my jacket, then leaned over and looked at the girl as her eyes got wider. “I could have sworn you were her biggest fan.”

The bar was completely hushed. I could feel the stares of the fake Straw Hats on me, probably more out of disbelief than anything else.

I heard the stretch of rubber. “Sure Kill: Green Star…”

Now, _that_ voice was familiar. I grabbed the girl and pulled her away a couple feet – she was just a kid; she had no reason to get hit with anything.

_Snap!_

“Devil!”

Something exploded into pink smoke in front of “Nami,” and a giant Venus Fly Trap suddenly grew out of the floor, taking the doppleganger up in its jaws.

My eyebrows shot up as Nami looked up with wide eyes.

“Wh-what is this?!” the fake Nami shrieked.

“Whoa,” I commented. “Don’t think I’ve seen an attack do _that_ before!”

Then the plant started moving towards the fake Straw Hats, and my surprised expression turned into more of a sinister grin.

“Wh-what is this?!” “Luffy” demanded.

The group quickly devolved into screaming as the plant wrapped its vines around them.

“What is that plant?” Nami asked in confusion.

“Doesn’t look like a Leech Seed.” I was _barely_ holding back snickers. “Although, that would be more dangerous than this, probably. Definitely not a Carnivine, either.”

“You are being way to calm for this,” Nami said flatly, looking back at me.

I grinned. “I could say the same to you, considering how you used to be in situations like this.”

Nami rolled her eyes. “You really haven’t changed in the last two years.”

“Oh, I’ve changed.” I winked. “It’s just that most people wouldn’t be able to notice.”

“So, young ladies, do you want a drink with me?”

I turned my head at the voice, and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw who was sitting to my right.

I saw the long nose, yes, but I also saw _the goatee and the muscles._ Where the heck had _those_ come from?!

The young man pushed up the brim of his floppy hat and grinned at us.

Nami let out a delighted laugh and grabbed him in a hug, forcing his head down into her chest as she jumped up and down excitedly. “Usopp! Long time no see! I can’t believe it! You became stronger!”

“Yeah, no kidding.” I rose to my feet, an amazed expression on my face.

“Y-you’ve blossomed yourself!” Usopp replied. His voice was muffled a little.

“What?! She had been waiting for that geek?!” “Franky” exclaimed in disbelief.

I pointed my staff at them, expression dropping into a more serious one. “Oi.”

A little sphere of fire blossomed on the top of the staff, and it shot towards “Franky” without much fanfare and promptly set his hair on fire, causing the fakes to start panicking even more.

“Did you do that?” Nami let Usopp go and pointed back at the giant plant.

Usopp laughed. “Yes, I did! That’s my new weapon, Pop Green! It’s not like I was watching the sea and doing nothing for two years! I’m sorry, but I no longer belong to the weak trio with you and Chopper! I became a warrior who isn’t fazed by anything!”

“Hey, you!” the man in the mask yelled. “Is this what you’ve done?!”

Usopp’s jaw dropped. “What?! Sniper King?! Why?!”

“I guess your still fazed by some things.” I rolled my eyes and snickered.

Nami rolled her eyes. “Usopp, forget about them. Let’s go somewhere else. I have a favor to ask of you, too.” She grabbed his hand. “Come on, Maria.”

“Coming.” I started to follow after her as Usopp continued to gawk at the fakes.

“H-hey, miss, you haven’t paid yet!” called the bartender.

Usopp quickly recovered himself and threw a bag at the bartender while Nami started messing with a thin blue pipe that looked familiar. “Keep the change!”

A little bubble with a dark cloud in it came out of Nami’s pipe. I watched it float up as we walked out of the bar, and I noticed there were others already with it.

My eyebrows shot up as we stepped out of the bar. Nami had done that without anyone else noticing. Her slight of hand was getting better.

“So, why’d you release all those little storm clouds?” I asked as we stepped out of the bar.

Nami looked back at me with a sly smirk “You see, I wasn’t sitting around, either. I ended up with—“

Almost as soon as she started explaining, the entire bar was lit up with lightning as a shockwave of thunderous noise and light blasted out from it.

“—so I studied about the new technology--”

“Really? You were in the sky?” Usopp asked in disbelief.

“Anything can happen on the Grand Line,” I commented. “I mean, _I_ ended up on an island that replayed all of my memories for me to interact with!”

“Whoa! So then, you’ve got more of your memories back?”

I grinned at Usopp “Not _more._ _All_ of them.”

Usopp’s jaw dropped. “R-really?!”

“But you don’t look like you’ve changed a bit.” Nami looked me over. “Other than the shoes, I guess.”

“I can’t really change how I look because of who I am.” I shrugged. “The shoes thing is the only thing that’s different because I want it to be.”

Nami hummed at that. “Have you been to see Shakky and Rayleigh yet?”

I shook my head. “I just got here. It took me a bit to get away from the town on Memory Isle – they had a party for days when they found out that I was going to be leaving. Luffy would have loved it.”

“Ah, I bet he would have.” Usopp nodded knowingly. Then he paused. “We’ve got a tail.”

I felt something tug on the back of my jacket, and I turned and looked down.

I was met with the glaring, unharmed face of my little lookalike, who had firecrackers in one hand and a lighter in the other. “You can’t be the Fire Storm! She died in—“

I sighed, dismissed my staff, grabbed her hands before she could bring them together, and yanked the lighter and firecrackers out of her hands. “Those are only rumors, kid. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, y’know? Besides, if I was dead, do you _really_ think that a bounty would have been put out on my head?”

The kid spluttered, trying to find words in protest, but didn’t come up with anything coherent.

“Listen. Don’t go back to those bozos back in the bar. They’re only going to cause trouble sullying up the name of the Straw Hats, and I’m pretty sure that they’re going to get it for that. You being near them is only going to get you in even more trouble, so I suggest you hoof it and don’t set foot on a pirate ship anytime soon.”

The girl scowled up at me, then turned and bolted. I sighed and shook my head as she ran off.

“Fire Storm, huh?” Usopp cocked his head to one side. “Where’d that one come from?”

“After what the Navy saw of me at Marineford, I guess they decided a name change was in order.” I crushed the lighter in my hand and dropped it and the firecrackers.

“That’s right! You were there!”

“Where’s Luffy?” Nami grabbed at my jacket and forced me to look her in the eye.

“He and I trained on different islands; he’s probably coming here separately.” Two years of training nothing; I was still a little uneasy about making Nami mad. _Especially_ after the lighting she set off! “I-I bet he’ll be here soon, though!”

Nami sighed irritably and let me go. “I should _hope_ so, because otherwise I’ve got a few _words_ to say to him.”

“…I don’t doubt it.”

“Hey, maybe we should get back to Shakky’s bar to see if anyone else has gotten here?” Usopp suggested. “Shakky said that Zoro got here ten days ago now, and Franky did, too.”

“Really? That’s awesome! Have you gotten to see them yet?”

Nami shook her head.

“I’ve seen Franky, but I haven’t seen Zoro yet,” Usopp said.

“It shouldn’t take too long for us to get together again, though.” Nami tapped her chin in thought. “Considering what happened the _last_ time we were here, we’ll probably end up causing a bit of a ruckus no matter what happens.”

I snorted. “That’s one way of putting it. Here’s hoping we find everyone before we get caught in anything worse than what happened back there.” I motioned back to the bar that Nami had zapped.

“Here’s hoping,” Usopp agreed.


	2. Reunite With The Crew!

**Maria’s POV**

“I said, give me a better discount!”

“N-no way, ma’am! You’re asking me to sell this much clothing for half price? That’s a bit…”

“It’s good to see that Nami’s bargaining skills haven’t changed,” I commented dryly to Usopp.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Usopp raised his voice. “Hey, Nami, you can buy clothes at the Fishman Island! We need to buy fuel—“

“No!” Nami walked away from the counter and came back with even _more_ clothes, adding to the mountain that was already there. “Here! I’ll buy these too, so discount them by ninety percent!”

“…if anything, her bargaining skills have gotten even more extravagant,” I muttered. Usopp nodded in agreement.

“No!” yelled the shopkeeper, aghast.

“Nami, leave the poor guy alone and let’s go get the fuel Usopp’s looking for,” I said. “Fishman Island’s probably got styles that you can’t get anywhere else on the Grand Line.”

Nami paused at that, drumming her fingers against the countertop. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then sighed and shook her head. “You’re probably right. Come on, then.”

As we left the store, I could have sworn that the shopkeeper let out such a sigh of relief that he deflated into a puddle on the floor.

It didn’t take too long to get the fuel Usopp was looking for – which, after a moment, I remembered why it was that _cola_ wasn’t as weird as it might have been at first glance.

“I’ve been delving into my own memories for so long that I forgot our ship’s got things that run on soda.” I laughed sheepishly from where I sat right behind Usopp on the bubble bike we rented to haul the cola. “I’m probably going to be gawking at a lot of things for a while again.”

“You didn’t gawk at Usopp’s attack,” Nami pointed out from where she sat next to the barrels.

“ _That_ wasn’t as weird as you probably thought it was.” I looked back at her. “I’ve seen things that you people would probably gawk at too, remember? You guys were pretty disbelieving when I explained about Pokémon after we rescued Robin from Enies Lobby.”

“Well, that’s just because we hadn’t seen enough yet,” Usopp replied. “I mean, the island I was living on for two years tried to _eat_ me every single day I was there! Did you ever face anything like that before you joined us?”

I gave him a deadpan look. “Depends. I’ve been in life-or-death situations before, but I’ve never had people hold the threat of eating me over my head before.”

“We’ve all been in life or death situations before,” Nami pointed out. “ _You_ just seem to keep remembering them at convenient –“

“Shh!” Usopp held up a hand. “Do either of you hear that?”

Nami and I blinked in confusion. I tilted my head slightly and frowned.

Then I heard it – faintly.

“…is there a horse nearby?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.” A grin was starting to cross Usopp’s face. “I bet it’s—“

Something started galloping across an intersection in front of us – large, cream-colored fur, antlers, a large blue-and-pink hat with a white “X” on the front—

Wait.

“Hey, Chopper!” Usopp started waving a hand in the air as the antler-crowned head looked around in confusion. “Hey!”

My jaw nearly dropped, but then a bright grin crossed my face. “Hey, Chopper!”

“Here, here!” Nami called as he looked over in our direction.

Usopp laughed. “I knew it was Chopper!” He brought our bubble bike to a stop and leapt off as Chopper stared at us in confusion before his expression brightened.

“Usopp!” Chopper exclaimed with delight.

“Oh, man, you got so big!” Usopp moved around Chopper to get a better look at the reindeer as I quickly moved over to join him. “You must be comfortable to ride!”

“I hope you’re not just thinking about that!” I laughed as Chopper looked over at me.

“Maria!” Chopper’s ears wiggled in delight. “You…” He frowned a little. “You didn’t change at all.”

“Not in appearance, no.” I winked. “I’ve got more tricks up my sleeves, though! I’ll have to tell you about them when we get to the _Sunny_!”

“You doing okay?” Usopp asked.

“Uh-huh!” Chopper nodded.

Nami lunged for Chopper and hugged the reindeer around his neck. The fact that none of us were taller than Chopper’s antlers really said something about how much he’d grown, let me tell you. “He’s right! You’re much softer than before!”

Chopper looked confused as Nami released him from the hug.

“It’s been a long time, Chopper!” Nami smiled.

“Nami?” Chopper blinked in confusion.

“Yes.” Nami’s smile brightened.

Chopper stared for a second, then jolted. “Oh, yeah! I’m glad to see you guys, but this is no time for that! Robin is in trouble!”

I was instantly on the alert. “What? What’s happened?”

“I-I found Zoro and Sanji, a-and Robin and Luffy and Franky, a-and then –“ Chopper cut himself off as he started to tear up. “A-and some people took off with R-r-robin in a bag a-a-a-and they didn’t go after her!” He looked at Nami. “A-and you were with them, but you looked and acted differently!”

Nami and I exchanged looks.

“I think I know what happened,” I said.

Nami nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s probably –“

“What?” Chopper looked at me. “What do you know?”

I jumped back on the bubble bike, Nami following suit. “Come on – we’ll explain on the way.”

**Time Break**

“Huh?! You mean they’re imposters?!” Chopper looked between me and Nami. “That’s why there were two Namis?!”

“Oh, please,” Nami muttered. “That woman was definitely _not_ me.”

“Unfortunately,” I replied. “They seem to want to ride on our coattails and don’t know what they’re getting into.”

“Robin’s evaded the Government for twenty years!” Nami added. “It’s unthinkable to me that she could be put into a bag and taken so easily!”

I motioned to Nami dramatically over Chopper’s head. “Case in point!”

“I got it! I thought there was something wrong… She didn’t even smell familiar!” Chopper clenched his hooves. “Now, I’m starting to get mad! What’s wrong with them?! Posing like us?! I won’t allow them to imitate us! A-as if we’re….” Chopper gained a pleased expression. “…stars, those bastards!”

Nami slapped him gently in the head. “Don’t let it go to your head!” She sighed. “Well, it can’t be helped if we have imitators, since our captain is famous.”

“I don’t like it, either, but we’ve got to get back together without causing as much of a ruckus as we did getting here two years ago,” I pointed out. I scowled. “Although, this stunt they’re pulling is making it a bit _hard_ for us to be able to do that. Recruiting for the Straw Hats my aft. Ha!” I snorted. “I’d like to see them try to hit the New World, as inexperienced as they are. As far as we’ve seen of them, none of them even have Devil Fruits, which is only gonna make their trip harder.” I motioned to Nami and Usopp. “I bet they don’t even have Haki.”

Nami nodded. “That certainly seems to be the case. Although – do you have Haki, Maria?”

I paused at the question, considering. “Of the three – Conqueror’s, Observation, and Armament – I definitely don’t have the first one. I know how to use Armament and Observation a little, but I really only got training for it for the last eight months, and I don’t have consistent control over them just yet. I’m sure I’ll get control of them in time.”

I wasn’t about to say that I knew Luffy had Conqueror’s, from what I saw at Marineford – he’d show it off in his own time, if we needed it and he knew how to use it.

“Although, considering what I’ve recovered over the last two years, I don’t know if I’m going to really need it or not,” I added. “I’ll have to see what happens when we get to the New World.”

“You really got _that_ strong?” Nami raised an eyebrow, doubtful.

“You smell a lot more like metal and fire than you did before,” Chopper commented. “Are you okay with _that?_ ”

I grinned, knowing what he was referring to. “Yeah; I won’t have any problems with it. I’m not going nutso from shifting to Reploid Forme anytime soon. So you guys might see me in my armor more often now!”

Chopper’s eyes widened. “Y-you mean—“

“Your robot mode?!” Chopper and Usopp squealed.

Nami rolled her eyes as I laughed.

“That’s…one way of putting it. But—“

Chopper squealed to the high heavens, cutting me off. I sighed at that; I’d hoped to correct Usopp and Chopper on their terminology.

I shook my head; that would probably have to wait until later. “So, Usopp, where are we headed?”

“Grove 17!” Usopp called back cheerily. “Rayleigh hid the _Sunny_ there while we were gone for the last two years! We should be able to meet up with Franky there!”

“Sweet!” Meeting up with the cyborg again was going to be interesting in and of itself. I couldn’t wait to see how much he’d changed over the last two years. “How different is he?”

Usopp laughed. “You’ll have to wait and see! It’s a pretty big change, though, I can tell you that!”

**Time Break**

I stared blankly at Franky.

“Cool!” Chopper squealed happily, stars in his eyes.

“Isn’t it?!” Usopp responded. “His body is amazing!”

“That’s…one way of putting it,” I remarked.

Franky had…well, he’d definitely gotten bigger. His arms were _massive_ amounts of steel, two scars ran up his chest parallel with each other from…somewhere in his red spandex swimwear and up to his neck. The only other thing he had on him besides a pair of sunglasses was a red shirt with palm trees, and even _that_ didn’t cover much.

Although, I was surprised to see he’d gotten a buzz cut…

“You’re like a robot!” Chopper started scrambling all over Franky to get a closer look at his large mechanical arms, what with how huge the spheres of his shoulder joints were. “Can you shoot beams or missiles? What can you transform into?!”

“If Franky transformed, all his inner parts would have to be mechanical,” I remarked. “And I doubt even he’d be able to pull off something like that.”

“Can _you_ transform?” Usopp looked at me.

“The closest you see me do that is when I shift from this—“

I motioned to my clothes, which promptly flashed, becoming a set of armor. My boots retained their red color scheme, but now my abdomen, forearms, and square shoulder guards were red, my chest was an orange-red, and my upper arms, stomach, and legs were gray, and I had white gloves on my hands with gold rings on my wrists and elbows.

 “—to _this._ I don’t come equipped with wings or wheels, so I can’t turn into vehicles.” I shrugged as Usopp stared at me with the same amazement he had Franky.

“Yes! With the dreams and enthusiasm of men riding on his back, he goes into action now!” Franky struck a dramatic pose, putting his arms together like he used to in order to make the two star marks on his arms one. “And his name is Armored Me!”

“Robot! Robot!” Chopper tried to lunge for Franky again, but Usopp held him back.

“Calm down, Chopper! Too much excitement could kill you!”

I laughed. “He’s got a point, Chopper. Take a moment to breathe before you look at such awesomeness as us again.”

“HA!” Franky pointed at me as Chopper stopped screaming excitedly and lay down on the coating-covered grass of the ship’s main deck. “So you have also joined in the man’s romance?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Franky, I was a part of it _before_ I was on the crew.” I grinned. “I can even _speak_ a language for robots.”

“EHHH?!” Chopper sat straight up in shock. “You CAN?!”

“I’ll demonstrate later; get a breather first.” I motioned to Chopper for him to calm down, and he lay back on the grass with a more disappointed expression.

“But, Franky…” Usopp looked over at the cyborg as I shifted back to my clothes. “You can’t do detail work with those huge hands, can you?”

Franky held his right hand toward us, palm facing us, and a little compartment opened up in the center of his palm before a smaller, yellow hand came out. “What did you say?”

“Whoa! A hand!” Usopp’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“A hand came out of a hand!” Chopper squealed.

I snorted at their reactions. “Seems you’ve thought of everything, then.”

“Maria? Was that true – what you said about a language for robots?”

I looked over at where Robin was standing at the railing of the ship. She had definitely become more… _well-endowed,_ I think is the word, and her preference for clothes had changed as well, if the skirt and jacket were of any indication.

I smirked. “Well, from what I know now, I’d definitely say it’s true. **_It kinda sounds like this.”_**

Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Robin stared at me when my voice suddenly went from a human language to beeps and whistles.

“I know a lot about the people who speak it, too,” I added. “Like how they—“

“Robin!” Nami called from off the ship. Usopp, Chopper, and I had sort of left her behind when we’d run up to the _Sunny._

Well, Usopp had dragged the two of us up here. I was pretty surprised at how strong a grip he’d had.

“Nami!” Robin’s expression brightened. “You look great!”

Nami made her way up onto the ship as Chopper and Usopp continued dancing around Franky, who kept getting into more and more ridiculous poses. She sent them – or, more accurately, Franky – a look of disapproval. “What’s wrong with his body?”

Robin laughed. “I don’t know. I don’t understand much of it.”

“My guess is either he or someone he came to trust gave him upgrades over the last two years,” I commented.

Nami looked me over. “And you haven’t gotten any?”

I shook my head, waving Nami’s expression off as I shifted back to my regular clothes. “Nah; I’ve done well enough without them. I probably won’t need any anytime soon, either.”

Nami started to drop the bags of clothes she was carrying with her, and when they bounced against the stuff covering the ship she blinked in surprise. “Oh, this is the coating?”

“Indeed.” Robin nodded. “Rayleigh did an excellent job with it.”

“Press my nose!”

“Nose?” Usopp repeated to Franky’s request.

“Press it for more than three seconds—“ Franky paused. “Please press the nose for more than three seconds.”

I had to do a double-take – the way he said it, flat, emotionless, made me think of an actual robot for a second.

Usopp reached forward slowly, muttering something under his breath.

“One! Two! Three!” Chopper jumped with each second.

Franky’s buzz cut _exploded_.

“Whoa! Hair!” Usopp rolled back across the lawn in shock as I jumped a little at the sight.

“Hair!” Chopper rolled in the opposite direction. “Can you set your hair?!”

Franky came up from putting a come through his sudden afro, reclaiming the hairstyle that I’d gotten used to seeing him with from two years ago. “Yes, I can!”

“WOW!”

Franky turned and looked over at us. “Oh, Nami! Hey!”

Nami raised a hand. “Okay, okay… What was he doing for two years?”

I shrugged. “Who knows?” I grinned. “It definitely makes for an interesting appearance, though!”

“Can I see your weapon? Please?” Chopper jumped up in front of Franky again.

Franky mimicked the sounds of a machine turning as he looked at Chopper. “No way! That’s the main event – you gotta wait for Luffy- _mecha.”_

I gave him an odd look at the added flat-toned word while Usopp and Chopper squealed with excitement. I know he was doing it to amuse Usopp and Chopper, but something about it just felt…wrong, to me.

And it wasn’t just because of the whole “robot vs Reploid” thought that was running through my head – although I would be addressing that later.

I may have all my memories back, but there were some things that I hadn’t wanted to remember.

I was _about_ to ask Franky to stop with the flat voice when I heard another familiar voice.

“Guys!”

Nami ran for the railing as I turned. “Rayleigh-san! Shakky!”

“Ray-san?” I looked up on one of the giant roots of the mangrove trees and caught sight of the two who had helped us out two years ago – the white-haired man and the dark-haired woman with him. A grin split my face a moment later.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your reunion, but there are things going on in this archipelago,” Rayleigh called.

“The evil imposters, yeah.” I nodded.

“They are only the start of it, I’m afraid. The Navy is starting to move into the archipelago.”

My eyes narrowed at that, my grin dropping.

“The Navy?” Nami glanced over at me before looking back at Rayleigh and Shakky.

“Yes.” Shakky nodded. “They think that the fakes are the real ones and have started mobilizing. I wiretapped them, so there’s no mistake.”

“Well, that’s just great,” I grumbled. “That means they’re gonna be looking for the _Sunny_ when we head out. And we _still_ don’t have Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, or Brook here yet.”

“Brook’s in the middle of a concert right now,” Franky called over. “He’s become so famous as Soul King that there’s a chance he might not come back.”

“ _That_ I doubt,” I called back at him.

“I told Brook-chan what’s going on through the Transponder Snail at the venue,” Shakky said. “He’s on his way here.”

“Told you.” I shot Franky a smug look.

“Oh, so he’s gonna abandon stardom?” Franky nodded a little. “He has backbone, as I thought.”

“He’d better, otherwise where would his spine be?” I shot back as Rayleigh jumped onto the deck.

Franky raised an eyebrow at me and snorted.

“Nami-chan, you’re a navigator, aren’t you?” Rayleigh approached Nami. “I’ll teach you how to operate the coated ship, so remember it.”

“Okay.” Nami gave a determined nod. “I’ll try my best!”

“Do or not do, there is no try,” I quoted. I grinned a little as Chopper and Franky looked at me with an odd expression. Right; Star Wars wasn’t exactly a fictional thing around here, unless there were novels that I didn’t know about. I’d have to do something about that.

Usopp, who had gone up to the second deck, looked around somewhat confusedly. “Oh, what is this? It got tense all of a sudden. B-but Rayleigh, Luffy isn’t here!”

“Don’t worry!” Rayleigh called up to him. “Luffy is here already!”

We all grinned widely at that.

“I knew he wouldn’t make us wait long,” I commented.

“I can’t wait!” Robin added with a chuckle.

“I gave Sanji a Baby Transponder Snail when we came here,” said Franky. “He’s with Zoro.”

“Those two knuckleheads are together?” I raised an eyebrow. I sighed and shook my head. “I bet they’ve gotten into a fight already.”

“You guys will have to hurry, then,” Shakky commented, “because the Navy will be here soon. So it’s only Monkey-chan we can’t reach.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “But take this Vivre Card. It will lead him to you.”

“Grove 42 will be perfect – it’s on the sea.” Rayleigh looked at the rest of us. “Take the ship there and rendezvous! It’s a little busy, but you all got through these two years, and it’s time for the new journey!”

I grinned widely at that and looked over at the others as the wind started to pick up, as though sensing our need to move and reach our captain and the two knuckleheads. “Sounds like we’ve got our course, right guys?”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Nami gained an annoyed expression. “I just wish that those four could have met us here.”

Shakky laughed. “Well, nothing is ever easy.” She looked over at me. “Just so you know, Maria-chan _,_ over the last two years I’ve taken the liberty of not letting your fruits go to waste. I left a little surprise for you in one of your ship’s stores. You’ll know what it is when you see it.”

I blinked a couple times at that as Rayleigh gained an odd, knowing look on his face. It was almost like he knew what Shakky was talking about – and wanted some of it on top of that.

“What did you—“

“You will have to look for yourself in order to find out.” Shakky winked. “Good luck reaching Monkey-chan _,_ and make sure to say hello to Brook-chan for me.”

“Uh…will do?” I blinked in confusion. Just _what_ had she done with the Berries she’d harvested?

I’d have to investigate as soon as we got going to Fishman Island.


	3. Time to Set Off!

We managed to get around to Grove 42 without any issues, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was a tenseness in the air that wasn’t letting up the closer we got. I took to pacing around the lawn as the others sat watching me.

“Maria, I doubt that you will be able to do much more than Chopper is doing now,” Robin commented. “Come. Sit. Tell us about what exactly it was that you did for the last two years.”

I shot her a look. “You seem to be pretty tight-lipped about what _you_ did, Robin.”

“It’s not as important. You, however, have been spending the last two years recovering your memories. You have told us what you’ve managed to recover so far; I don’t see why you shouldn’t now.”

I paused to consider that, tilting my head to one side. “You…do have a point, actually. Okay; I’ll tell you guys.”

“Tell us about the robots first!” Usopp said, grinning widely.

I rolled my eyes at Usopp’s request. “They’re Cybertronians, Usopp, not ‘robots’. They actually see that as a pretty offensive term, since they see it as meaning a mindless hunk of machinery programmed only for a specific set of jobs. I actually don’t take too well to the term, either – that’s why I call my armored form my _Reploid_ form.”

Usopp blinked in surprise at that, grin fading a little. “O-oh.”

Franky raised his eyebrows out of surprise. “I didn’t think it could be derogatory by some people’s perspectives.”

“I know you guys didn’t mean any harm by it, but just…keep that in mind, all right?” I waved off their concern. “Anyway, the Cybertronians are basically giant mechanical beings who can transform into vehicles – mostly land and air-based, but there’s probably some water vehicles too. They’ve been…a pretty _violent_ people, actually. Enslaved and rebelled, then had a civil war amongst each other before settling _that_ and defending themselves from their would-be enslavers again.” I ticked off the major events on my fingers. “I was actually involved in the last two, so I got to know some of the higher-ups pretty well.”

“Wait. You were involved in a _civil war?”_ Nami demanded.

“Somewhat.” My gaze wandered to the trees, but I wasn’t really seeing them. “It was more the attack from the Quintessans later that I really got involved; they kept me out of the main battle as much as possible in the beginning because I could have been squished underfoot – _that’s_ how big they are.”

I could almost see them, at the back of my mind: taller than the main mast of our ship, with moving machinery hidden under their armor and stern, but kind looks on their faces.

One in particular – in red and cobalt armor – stood at the head of one group, while the other was lead by one armored in silver….

“These Quintessans, then.” Robin inclined her head as I came out of my thoughts. “How difficult were they to beat?”

I snorted as my memories turned elsewhere. “They’re five-faced space jellyfish that like playing games with your head. They’d manipulated the Cybertronians before into thinking they were their creators – completely false – and they probably wanted to do that again after turning Earth into their new home planet.” My eyes narrowed as I gritted my teeth. “After what I had just come out of, I wasn’t about to let them have their way with that, so I made sure I wasn’t standing on the sidelines that time. In fact, I got _so_ active that they didn’t even get their plan off the ground.”

A grin crossed my face, and it wasn’t a very _nice_ one. “Let’s just say that they know that I’m not a myth in Cybertronian history.”

“Whoa.” Usopp’s eyes were wide in awe. Franky was grinning, equally impressed.

“So you are a part of their history now?” Robin leaned forward slightly, intrigued. “You must have made quite an impact, if you are small enough that you could be considered the size of an insect to them.”

“More like a small rodent, but yeah.” I nodded, then tilted my head slightly. “Actually, speaking of history….”

I reached into my jacket and pulled out a large, hardcover book with a mechanical-looking illustration of a planet on the front cover.

“This _is_ their history – or the most recent edition of it that I’ve picked up.” I crossed the lawn and held the book out to Robin. “They call it _The Covenant of Primus._ Mostly because their religion and history are extremely intertwined, especially in the beginning. One of the first Cybertronians ever wrote this book; he was a good friend of mine.”

“Really?” Robin took the book carefully from my hands. “I shall treat this with the utmost respect and return it to you promptly.”

“Mind if I have a look at it too?” Franky spoke up.

I nodded. “Yeah, sure. Just be careful – it’s the only copy of the latest edition that I have.”

“I find it hard to believe that you’ve ever been to another planet,” Nami said. “Or that these guys weren’t created artificially.”

I frowned at that. “We’ve fought zombies and you can’t believe that sentient mechanical beings exist?”

“Those zombies weren’t exactly _natural,”_ Nami retorted.

I gave her a deadpan look and raised an eyebrow. “Touché. But that doesn’t change the fact that they are, in fact, real.”

“What about your family?” Usopp pressed. “I-I mean, you remember _them_ too now, right?”

I looked over at Usopp at that, blinking in surprise before my expression sobered. I nodded. “Yeah, I…I remember them now, too. And what’s happened to all of us.”

Usopp’s eager look fell back at the tone in my voice. “Oh?”

I nodded. “I’ve got a sister who’s gone missing, but I’m pretty sure that she’s doing okay. We Carlsdales are a pretty tough family.” I gave a smile, but it didn’t quite reach my eyes.

“Carlsdale?” Nami frowned. “I haven’t heard of a name like _that_ before.”

I shrugged. “Bet you haven’t heard of Langstrom then, either – they’re neighbors of ours. I’m basically cousins with one of them, and his cousin is off traveling on her own. Or, she _was,_ the last time I heard from her.” I made a face. “We haven’t exactly been able to stay in touch for a while.”

“I’m sure that they will be looking forward to hearing from you when you call them up again,” Robin said. “Do you remember their numbers?” She smiled slightly, and I couldn’t help but feel like she was teasing.

I snorted. “Of course I remember their numbers – the contact list is _in my head_ , it’s hard to forget that kind of thing. I don’t need to call them _now,_ though. If they need to check in on me or ask me for help, they will. They can handle themselves well enough.”

Robin raised her eyebrows. “You are that confident in their strength?”

“My younger brother is married and can summon lightning bolts,” I replied with a grin. “They’ll be fine.”

“Wait – _married?”_ Nami stared at me. “How young is your younger brother?”

“…Thirty-ish? I think?”

Usopp’s jaw dropped with a gasp. “How?! You don’t look older than—“

“Apparently I’m about 40.” I shrugged.

Robin took a moment to absorb that, then started giggling as Nami and Usopp exchanged wide-eyed looks and Franky whistled. “So, you became what you are now when you were still a teenager, then.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I was turned into an android when I was 18 years old.”

Usopp spluttered. “But then – that means you’re older than Zoro!”

“So?” I raised an eyebrow. “I’m still me. What does it matter how old I am?”

Usopp spluttered again as Nami continued to stare at me.

“… _how?_ ” Nami asked finally.

I blinked at the question. “How what?”

“You told us you weren’t human anymore two years ago. We _thought_ you were only a few years older than what you looked like – but _twenty-two years_ as an android? How is it that you haven’t completely rusted out or – or—“

I shrugged. “Super-advanced tech. The kind that Vegapunk and the Marines don’t have their hands on yet.” My expression went grim. “And it’s not something I intend to let them get their hands on anytime soon.”

“That’s got to be some _very_ nice tech if you’ve survived this long,” Franky commented.

“Considering that they only want you alive, I can imagine that they would have a difficult time in actually managing to do that,” Robin said casually.

“Wait, what?” Nami looked at Robin as Usopp blinked a couple times before frowning.

“…I didn’t hear about that,” Usopp muttered.

“After Marineford, not only did my bounty go up, but they changed the name they gave me and boosted my bounty, but they made it pretty clear that Vegapunk wanted me alive.” I reached into my jacket and pulled out a rolled-up sheet of parchment before unfurling it and showing Nami, Usopp, Franky, and Robin.

The picture of me on the front was me in my armor and on my hoverboard, surrounded by a tunnel of flames as I shot past whoever happened to have the camera. My expression screamed bloody murder.

“Fire Storm Maria…235 million Beri?!” Usopp let out a squeak in surprise. “When that kid lookalike of you called you that, I thought she was joking!”

“Nope.” I rolled up the wanted poster again and hid it away in my jacket. “And Vegapunk wants to know how I work; the Admirals at Marineford made _that_ much pretty clear.”

“It’s interesting that you are the only one of us to have a poster with that on it,” Robin commented.

“It’s interesting that they see me as a threat and don’t want to see me turned into scrap,” I replied. “Vegapunk must have more pull than he seems to – although, considering that he’s the one who made the Pacifistas, I doubt that they want to get on his bad side or they think that using my tech will make their perfect warriors even better.”

The grim tone in my voice made Usopp look incredibly concerned, as did Nami. Robin inclined her head slightly, but kept her expression generally calm.

Of course, Robin had experience in keeping her opinion and emotions to herself, so I didn’t find it surprising that she was able to maintain a poker face.

“Must have some pretty advanced tech if he wants what you’re running on,” Franky commented.

There came the sound of sudden, loud explosions from somewhere in the giant trees, causing us to turn our heads sharply at the sound.

“Sounds like they’re causing trouble again.” Nami sighed. “And I’d hoped we could get out of here without making a ruckus this time.”

I shrugged. “Well, you know that’s pretty much impossible.”

Usopp snorted in agreement. “Yup. Let’s just hope that Chopper managed to find them before things got to be _too_ bad.”

A second explosion went off.

“And maybe hope that they don’t blow up the island?” I suggested casually. “Something tells me we’d better be ready to move either way.”

_“Yohohohohohoho!”_

“Oh!” Usopp turned his head and looked up at the sky.

Nami looked up as the rest of us followed suit. “That must be—“

“Usopp-san! Nami-san! Robin-san! Maria-san! Ffffranky-san!”

The rhythmic, sing-song way our voices were said only caused me to grin even more widely at the approaching flying fish. “Brook!”

The fish zoomed overhead, and a very familiar, tall, lanky skeleton dropped out of the sky with a loud “Yohooooo!” before he landed in the midst of us.

His clothes definitely looked different from when I’d last seen him – pants covered in flowers, a feather boa and a cravat around his neck, a _guitar shaped like a shark._ Clearly, he had gone through a few wardrobe changes since we’d last seen him!

“Brook!” Usopp exclaimed with delight.

“Hey!” Franky greeted with a grin. “I can’t believe you abandoned your stardom! Attaboy!”

Brook laughed his familiar laugh. “It’s been a long time, everybody!” He looked over at Nami, Robin, and I. “You three have become even more beautiful!”

I snorted as Brook walked over to a nearby barrel and sat down.

“All right, Nami-san! It’s been 2 years, so….”

“Here we go,” I muttered.

Brook strummed a chord.

“Oh, are you gonna sing for us?” Usopp asked.

Brook took a deep breath, like he was _about_ to start singing.

“…Could I look at your panties—“

Nami roundhouse kicked Brook in the head, knocking off his hat and sending him crashing to the deck. “What do you think?! I never let you see them even two years ago!”

“I-I’m so excited to see you again…See? It’s shaking my soul…although I don’t have a soul to be shaken…”

“All I see is you struggling to get up again,” I said flatly.

“Honestly! None of you guys have grown up!” Nami huffed.

Brook finally managed to get to his feet as I rolled my eyes. “By the way, I don’t see everybody here yet.”

“Chopper went to pick them up,” Robin explained.

“Heeeeeeeey!”

 _There_ was a familiar voice I hadn’t heard in two years. A grin instantly crossed my face, and I turned my head sharply to look up in the direction the voice was coming from.

There was the bird that Chopper had said he was going to go get help from. And, as they drew closer….

“Finally, here they come!” Franky grinned up at the approaching bird as we moved closer to the side of the ship closest to shore.

“Heeeeeey! Everybody!”

I grinned more widely as I heard the familiar voice call again. I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled up, “Hey, Luffy!”

Luffy’s bright laugh answered my yell instantly.

“I brought them!” Chopper called as his very, _very_ large bird friend came closer to the boat.

“Luffy! Zoro! Sanj!” Usopp started dancing around excitedly on the boat’s deck while Brook waved his hat at them in greeting.

“Hey!” Nami called.

“Luffy-san! I missed you so much!” Brook’s sockets were leaking tears – how, I was not going to ask.

“You guys sure do look stronger!” Franky said.

I’m pretty sure Usopp was sniffling. “We all got together again!”

Now that they were closer, I could see them a lot better. Luffy looked the same as he always did, except now he had a yellow strip of fabric tied around the top of his pants and his shirt was no longer sleeveless and had sleeves that did a sort-of frilly spread-out thing that looked a bit more formal.

Sanji was…definitely older. It looked like he was trying out the goatee look, and he’d switched which direction his hair went. I couldn’t help but frown when I saw that eyebrow – I thought they swirled out to the _outside_ of his eyebrows, not both in _one direction._

And Zoro….

I raised an eyebrow as I stared at Zoro’s getup. A long-sleeved green robe, leaving him bare-chested and revealing a rather nasty scar I knew he got before I joined the crew, with a red stomach-band instead of his normal green one holding his swords in place. A bandanna was tired around his arm as normal but—

My other eyebrow shot up to join the first.

_To what did he lose an eye?!_

Then I saw red, and Chopper screeched as Sanji took off from the bird’s back by way of a _nosebleed._

I paled abruptly. “I know that Sanji is a pervert, but _that’s_ taking it a little too far!”

Usopp started moving towards the edge of the deck; I started to move after him, intending to get to Sanji first, but he put a hand in front of me as we reached the railing.

“If you’re the one to pull him up, then he’s only gonna have another nosebleed,” Usopp said. “Let me get him.”

I only had a moment to start nodding before Usopp dove off the edge of the ship and into the water below as Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper got off the bird and onto the deck.

“Thanks for the help! Say “hi” to everybody in Birdie Kingdom for me!” Chopper said to his ride quickly.

The bird cawed and flew off as Usopp came up from the water and climbed back up onto the deck. I helped him pull Sanji up so that he’d have an easier time getting over the railing.

Sanji was _still_ bleeding from his nose.

“Is Sanji all right?!” Chopper quickly scrambled over to us.

“O-one beautiful woman…”

“Hey, stay with me!” Usopp said in a panic.

“He’s losing blood fast,” I said worriedly. “We have to plug that _fast_.”

“Two beautiful women….”

“On it!” Chopper quickly pulled out his medical kit, and I moved away from Sanji, Usopp, and the puddle of blood so that our doctor could get to work.

I looked around the deck in order to see what the others were up to.

 _Of course_ Luffy was near Franky and excitedly exclaiming over his new mechanical parts. I could see the stars from across the deck.

“Is there something that concerns you-mecha?” Franky set his hair off.

“Mecha?! I wanna play!”

“Luffy, wait!” Nami pulled Luffy back from being able to set off Franky’s hair again. “I don’t know what’s so great and besides that, it looks like the Navy ships are already here!”

As if Nami spoke the magic words, a cannonball whistled through the air and collided with the water near the ship, causing _Sunny_ to rock away from the explosion of water as everyone scrambled to keep their balance.

“When did they get here?!” Usopp demanded, running towards the other side of the deck.

“Probably when we were watching Luffy and the others come in for their landing!” I called back.

“There are three Navy ships!” Usopp turned to look back at us. “Hey, should we fight back?! They’re gonna get us if we don’t do something!”

I heard three more cannons go off, and Usopp turned sharply to look out over the open sea again.

“Oh no…they’re gonna hit us!”

“Slave Arrow!”

My eyes widened sharply when I heard the woman’s call, and I saw a fleet of pink arrows shoot across the sea and hit the three cannons that were coming at us. They promptly dropped into the ocean without so much as a _boom._

“What the—“

And then I saw where they had come from.

 _Boa Hancock’s ship_ was gliding in between us and the Navy.

“Hancock!” I said in surprise.

“You know the Kuja Pirates’ captain?” Robin looked at me in surprise.

“Kuja?” Nami repeated in confusion.

“A women-only pirate crew,” I said. “They’ve got their own island on the Calm Belt that no man’s supposed to set foot on – and the Warlord Empress Boa Hancock is their captain.”

“A Warlord?!” Usopp repeated in shock.

Nami raised an eyebrow at me. “Did you end up with them for the last two years?”

I shook my head. “Nah; Luffy did. I ended up with another crew that’s got a _different_ island on the Calm Belt.”

“They say anyone who sees her will be attracted to her beauty, and turned to stone in the end,” Robin said thoughtfully while Nami stared at me with wide eyes. “Is that true, Maria?”

I shrugged. “I never really felt any attraction. I don’t think Luffy did, either. But she _was_ turning a lot of people to stone at Marineford.”

“Ooh! Ooh! She is too bright; she is too dazzling! There is no end to her beauty!” Brook fell back, dropping the eyeglass he had been looking through.

Usopp caught it, then looked himself. His jaw dropped. “Wow! She must be a goddess!”

“Goddess?!” Sanji cried from behind us. “Where is she?! Goddess goddess!” He quickly scrambled over to us and grabbed an eyeglass to look through himself.

I started to move to take it away from him, but it was already too late.

He’d turned to stone, with hearts for eyes.

“He turned to stone?!” Usopp exclaimed as Luffy came up to us.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. “Of course he did.”

“Oh, that’s Hancock and the others!” Luffy said cheerily.

The love-struck boys of the crew looked at Luffy sharply as I rolled my eyes again.

I heard shouting from the ships, and Brook scrambled to hold up the eyeglass again before he fell back seconds later, clutching his chest.

“She just winked at us….”

“I bet she’s buying Luffy time to get out of here,” I commented.

Luffy nodded. “Yup! Let’s set sail now!”

“Luffy, how do you know her?” Nami asked hesitantly. “I mean, Maria said you were with them, but—“

“I got sent to the Maiden island and became friends with them,” Luffy replied casually.

“In usual Luffy fashion,” I added.

“That’s the legendary female-only island, right?” Usopp asked.

I gave him a deadpan look. “What do you think?”

Usopp gave me a wide-eyed look.

“Friend with the pirate empress?!” Sanji roared. He grabbed Luffy’s shift and started shaking him. “Hey, were you really training hard?!”

“Yeah, I’m so ready!” Luffy replied.

Sanji dropped to his hands and knees and started slamming a fist into the deck. “It’s not fair…it’s not fair….”

Luffy looked confused. “What’s the matter, Sanji?”

I shrugged. “Let’s not worry about him right now; he’ll be fine.”

Luffy looked over at me for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Yeah!”

“Okay, let’s get ready to sail now!” Nami ordered.

While most of the crew moved to get everything set, Usopp moved to one side of the ship, getting Chopper’s and my attention.

“What’s the matter, Usopp?” Chopper asked.

“I was just thinking…did you guys beat all those Navy soldiers?”

“No, we heard them shouting while we were flying,” Chopper replied.

“Then why aren’t they coming after us from inland?”

Usopp’s question sent a chill down my spine. “Think they’re calling for backup? Or they’ve run into some trouble of their own?”

“As long as they’re not coming, that’s good,” Franky spoke up. “If they’re in trouble, we’re lucky. Let’s just leave now!”

And then Franky leapt off the boat and dove underwater.

“How can we leave when Franky just left?” I asked in confusion.

“It’s part of how we’re going to get underwater,” Nami explained. She looked down at the Log Pose on her wrist and smirked. It was still pointing down – down to Fishman Island. “Any second now….”

Something started happening to the sticky coating that was covering the ship – I looked down as I felt it start to rise up over my feet.

“It’s inflating!” Luffy said in surprise.

“What? This jelly inflates?” Usopp was equally surprised as the bubble started to move up and around our legs.

“This feels really weird.” I held up my arms up on instinct as it started going up my waist. “Like I’m taking a dip in a pool but I’m _not_.”

A few seconds later it was up above our heads, the bubble not quite reaching the top of the mast but giving us a fair amount of air.

“We got a bubble roof!” Chopper exclaimed.

“Something tells me this is all we’re gonna get for the trip down,” I commented. I made a mental note to keep breathing to a minimum, since it wasn’t something that I really needed to do.

“Listen, guys!”

We looked over at Nami.

“A coated ship has the ability to reduce any kind of pressure. So once the floating bag at the ship’s bottom which keeps it on the surface has been removed, it’ll be less buoyant and start to sink. That’s how it works.”

“So it’s basically negating the natural way ships float,” I commented. “That’s pretty interesting. Considering we _are_ heavier than just a bubble, I guess it would make sense that we wouldn’t just float up into the clouds.”

Nami nodded in agreement.

“I see,” Zoro and Luffy said at once.

I side-eyed the two of them as they stared at Sabaody.

“Too complicated, huh?” Nami said dryly. She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, spread the sail now!”

“Sail?” Chopper repeated.

“A coated sailing ship is driven by the sea current instead of the wind,” Robin explained.

“I guess that’s why the bubble didn’t stretch up over the whole ship.” I looked up at the masts, their tops still uncovered.

“Exactly.” Nami nodded.

“I thought it just submerged and traveled,” Usopp remarked. “It does make sense that we’d use sea currents like winds, though.”

“All right, we’d better hurry before the Navy reaches us!” Nami barked.

“You got it!” I started scrambling up the secondary mast, slipping through the bubble again as Chopper followed. “Man, these things have the consistency of the bubbles from the trees up here – that’s a good thing for now.”

“Yeah!” Chopper agreed. “It means we can take care of what we need to up here before we go underwater and can’t reach them very well.”

“Exactly.” I grinned at him, then started undoing the knots keeping the sails tied. Chopper started doing the same.

He must have noticed something on the horizon while I was working, because a second later he exclaimed, “Navy reinforcements! And we were just about to leave….”

“Well, isn’t this just great,” I said dryly.

He started to take in a breath to yell down to the others, but there came a loud squawk from above us as Chopper’s bird friend flew over our heads and out towards the incoming ships.

I grinned. “Looks like he didn’t go home just yet! He wants to make sure we get out of here safely!”

Chopper grinned in agreement as his friend sliced through the sails of the Navy ships—

 _Sunny_ was suddenly rocked as a cannonball hit the water behind us.

“They’re coming from behind too?!” Chopper exclaimed in alarm.

Another cannon was shot, the ball aiming right for our mast.

I started to prepare to shift into my armor in order to blast it out of the sky, only for a loud guitar chord to come rocketing out of Sabaody and explode the cannonball mid-air.

“You hit that ship and it’s the last thing you’re gonna do!”

“Holy scrap that’s Mitchell.” I blinked a couple times in surprise.

“Who?” Chopper blinked in confusion.

“The musician of the pirate crew I shared an island with the last two years.” I quickly finished undoing the knots. “They must have been hanging around so that they knew I was on my way safely! Come on!”

“Right!” Chopper quickly finished on his end as I heard Sanji let out a cry of alarm from below – whatever that meant. Hopefully he wasn’t bleeding from his nose _again._

“Are you guys ready up there?!” Nami called up. Her voice was a bit muffled because of the bubble.

I looked across from Chopper’s and my mast and smirked at Zoro and Brook, who had finished up on their end of things. “Looks like we’re all set!”

I looked back down at the main deck and watched as Luffy moved to stand on the bench around the main mast.

“You guys! I’ve got a lot of things that I want to share with you but in any case, thank you for going along with my selfish decision for two years!”

I smirked at Luffy’s statement.

“That wasn’t the first time,” Sanji commented from below.

“He’s right!” Usopp agreed. “You’ve always been selfish!”

Luffy laughed as the ship started to sink; I could see the horizon getting closer.

“Spread the sail!” Luffy called.

“You got it!” I called back with a wide grin. Chopper, Zoro, Brook, and I leapt off our perches and down onto the deck below, unfurling the sails as we went.

“SET SAIL!” Luffy yelled as soon as we hit the deck.

The unanimous cry that went up from all of us could probably be heard from Sabaody and the Navy ships as we dipped down below the waves.

“Let’s go to Fishman Island!”


	4. Under the Sea

**Maria’s POV**

As we dropped into the water, I couldn’t help but look around at the scenery we were getting – the kind that was _rarely_ seen, if at all by the people on the Grand Line.

Large, majestic roots from the mangrove trees descended into the darkness – probably straight down into the ocean floor. Sunlight filtered in through the waves above, and there were crowds of fish of all kinds flitted about all over the place.

“Wow.” I grinned. If this is what it looked like at _this_ point of our journey, how much more interesting was the ocean _floor_ going to look here?

“The surface is quite far up already,” Robin said in awe from one side of the deck.

“What a view!” Franky grinned as he joined her. “Submarines can’t have windows this wide!”

“I’ve heard of glass tunnels that have been able to go along some parts of the ocean floor, where it’s more shallow,” I piped as I moved over to them. “The glass has to be incredibly thick, though, because of the water pressure.”

“I can imagine,” Robin remarked. “Although, I doubt that such tunnels would be able to go down where we’re going.”

“Definitely not.”

“We’re sinking and sinking!” Chopper exclaimed. “I can’t stop worrying about flooding!”

“Feels like we’re leaving the inhabited world,” Nami said, looking up at the ceiling. “It makes me nervous!”

“C-c-can we go back on the surface again for sure?” Usopp asked nervously.

“We’re gonna be _fine,_ Usopp,” I replied, looking over at him as Luffy looked up in awe. “Ray-san knew what he was doing, and we know where we’re going. All we have to do is get through the currents and get down to Fishman Island and we’ll be fine!”

As soon as I said that, I felt like I’d just jinxed us.

“It’s beautiful down here!” Luffy exclaimed.

“Look at that!” Brook was over on the other side of the deck, looking at the roots that were extending down from the archipelago we’d just left behind at the surface.

Luffy scrambled over to Brook’s side of the deck. “Trees…no, roots!”

“Oh, yeah!” Sanji recalled. “Come to think of it, Sabaody Archipelago consists of giant mangroves!”

“I’m surprised by the beauty of nature!” Brook called. “I’m so surprised – my eyes could pop out!” He paused. “I don’t have eyes, though!”

I laughed at Brook’s exclamation. “Yeah, it really is cool, isn’t it? Everywhere we turn, there’s another awesome part of nature that’s just waiting to be discovered so that we can be surprised and awed by it. It can be _very_ humbling.”

“I suppose that, with everything that you’ve seen, you can still be surprised by nature’s grandeur?” Robin asked me with a knowing smile.

I nodded. “Oh, yeah. Definitely. There’s a lot out there that I have seen and would love to see again – the top of Mt. Chimney, the metallic landscape of Cybertron…” I sighed, letting the memories from my past come back in droves.

“I can’t believe these roots are running down to the ocean floor,” Robin commented. “They’re enormous and magnificent!”

I hummed and nodded a little in agreement as I pulled myself back out of my memories.

“H-hey, there’s something behind that tree!”

I turned my head at Usopp’s statement right as Chopper let out a yell in surprise.

“Wow, it’s huge!”

My eyebrows shot up when I saw the large, scaly form of a fish swimming past us. “Whoa! That guy looks like he could rival Kyogre in size!”

“Eeh? Kyogre?” Usopp looked at me in confusion.

“Giant sea monster that can control how much rain falls,” I explained. “Give her too much power and she can flood the world. I made friends with her, though, so that’s never gonna happen.”

“How exciting! An underwater adventure! It’s like a dream come true!” Luffy marveled. “Oh, fish! I think I can catch them!”

He leapt for the bubble and started pulling at it, trying to get through to the other side.

“Luffy, don’t!” I ran across the deck as Zoro looked up.

“The fish here look delicious too,” Zoro commented. He started to pull out his sword as I reached Luffy and Chopper and Usopp converged on Zoro.

I jumped up and slammed a fist down onto Luffy’s head, knocking him onto the deck the same time that Chopper and Usopp hit the swordsman.

“Stop it you idiots!” Usopp snapped.

“The bubble could’ve popped and drowned us!” I added.

“Don’t ever do that again or I’ll kill you!” Chopper threatened while Robin looked on with a mildly amused expression.

“Nami-san give us some do’s and don’t’s on the coated ship before they do something stupid.” Sanji started to look over at Nami.

“Okay, Sanji-kun! Rayleigh-san gave me a note.” Nami started to turn to face the rest of us.

I, remembering the last few times that Sanji had looked at a woman, moved behind him quickly, shifting into my armor as I did.

“All right, everyone! Listen—“

And Sanji shot up on a nosebleed rocket, screaming about a “real, beautiful woman.”

I grabbed his leg before he could go shooting up into the bubble and yanked him back down as best I could, but _man_ that geyser coming from his nose was strong! “Chopper!”

“On it!” Chopper was instantly there with a couple of nose plugs, which he promptly stuck up Sanji’s nose as I moved my grip from his leg to his shoulders. “Okay, Maria, it might be a good idea to move away from him now! I got it!”

I nodded and let go of Sanji quickly as Chopper started looking over our cook.

“Honestly, if he’d gone shooting off, he probably would have popped the bubble,” I commented, shifting back to my normal clothes.

“Not necessarily,” Nami replied. “The bubble is strong enough to stand the pressure down here, so it’s thicker than say a soap bubble or even the bubbles that are up on the archipelago’s surface. If Sanji had popped the bubble, he would have been sent up into the water and the rest of us would have still been fine.”

“Still, a nosebleed shouldn’t be able to send someone rocketing up like that!” Usopp ranted. “How the hell can Sanji _do_ that?”

“Maybe it has something to do with where he was training for the last two years?” Robin suggested.

“What kind of place makes someone like _him_ even _more_ susceptible to women than he already is?!” Usopp demanded as Chopper came running out of he medical bay with blood bags. He promptly started sticking IVs in Sanji’s arm.

“This isn’t like you!” Chopper yelled at him in agreement.

“I feel sorry for him,” Brook commented as Zoro stared with a dropped jaw at all the blood bags. “What happened to this ladies’ man, Sanji-san in the last two years? At this rate, he’s gonna bleed to death once he meets the mermaids he’s longing to see. I can’t help worrying.”

“We’ll have to call for blood donations at Fish-Man Island,” Chopper said as he looked Sanji over. Our cook was _completely_ catatonic, with his visible heart as an eye and a rather goofy-looking smile on his face. “I wonder if fishmen and mermaids have the same blood as humans.”

“Or even if they’d be willing to donate if they did,” I commented. “I mean, if things were bad two years ago when Hachi was with us….”

That wasn’t something I wanted to really think about.

“The bubble that coats the _Sunny_ has the same quality as the bubbles at Sabaody Archipelago,” Robin spoke up, sensing the need for a change in subject.

“Stop analyzing the bubble in such a calm manner!” Usopp exclaimed, pointing at her accusingly.

“Robin’s right,” Nami spoke up. “Basically, they’re the same. It stretches to a certain point, and it allows things to go through when it goes beyond that. Which means if we fire a gun or cannon at a creature that attacks us, the bubble won’t break.”

“Then, on what occasion will it break instead?” Usopp asked.

“When there are too many holes at once it will,” Nami replied. “For example, if we’re bitten by a Sea King’s fangs, it’ll be trouble. Or, if the ship itself breaks up by crashing into a rock or a trench, the broken mast or planking will break the bubble and that also spells danger. So we have to be careful with creatures and obstacles in the sea.”

“And morons?” I asked dryly, motioning over to Luffy and Zoro, who were attempting to gear up for another attempt at catching fish.

“Yes, actu—“

Nami was suddenly across the deck, slamming her fists into Luffy’s and Zoro’s heads. “You idiots! Don’t break the bubble with your attacks!”

“So it’s tougher than I thought it was.” Usopp let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good! I was worried for a minute there!”

“But seventy percent of the ships that head for Fishman island end up sinking,” Nami said as she came back. “So we have to be cautious.”

Whelp. My comment earlier _definitely_ jinxed us now. I gulped.

Usopp and Chopper started crying.

“Damn! Hachi said he’d show us the way to Fishman Island!” Usopp wailed. “I thought it was gonna be a safe trip!”

“Oh, yeah!” Luffy perked up from where he’d been smacked to the ground. “They gave me a lot of lunches!” He ran over and started dragging over the large, round backpack that he’d come off Chopper’s bird friend with. “Since Sanji is sick, let’s eat these!”

Chopper perked up instantly. “I’m so starved!”

“Yohohoho! My bones are starved!”

I snorted at Brook’s comment. “Yeah, getting some food would be a good idea.”

“Nami, is the ship gonna be stable for a while?” Franky asked. “Don’t we have to do anything?”

“Nope. We just have to ride this big sea current for now. So we can continue on like this for a while, since we don’t have much to do until later.”

“Then we have a little time, huh? Then there’s something I have to tell you all about.”

I blinked when Franky suddenly looked more serious. I raised an eyebrow.

“Could it be about….”

Luffy suddenly led Usopp and Chopper in a loud declaration. “The robot’s secrets?!”

I snorted and rolled my eyes at the exclamation as they started to ask if Franky had more secrets hidden that he hadn’t told the rest of us about.

“Super Armored Me!” Franky brought up one of his little hand-in-a-hand and poked his nose, causing his buzzcut to turn into a couple spiked horns on top of his head and causing the three over-excited boys to tumble off his back. “No, I’m afraid – I’m afraid it’s not about that-robo.”

“Wow, cool! He speaks Robotese!”

“Oh, come on,” I muttered.

Franky’s hairdo reverted back to his buzzcut as his glasses settled back over his eyes. “This is what I wanna tell you about. Go ahead and eat while you’re listening.”

Franky sat back on the bench around the mast as the rest of us raided Luffy’s gigantic lunch bag for food and drink. That thing was really well-stocked; Hancock wanted to make sure that he was going to do okay, I guess.

“Hachi told us that he would show us the way to Fishman Island, but he got severely injured at Sabaody and he’s under medical care at Fishman Island,” Franky explained grimly. “He got injured for the same reason that Duval did – he’d been protecting the _Thousand Sunny.”_

My eyes widened sharply. “I should have known that the ship being in such great shape after two years was too good to be true.”

Franky nodded. “Around a year ago, the Navy found out about _Sunny_ , and those two faced fierce battles and were taken out of commission.”

“Then, how did the ship remain undamaged after that?” Usopp asked.

“There was someone else who fought for it,” Franky replied.

“Is it someone we know?” I asked.

“You could put it that way, since he’s the guy who separated us two years ago.”

I stiffened at Franky’s words. “No way….Kuma? Really?”

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got to the _Sunny_ a few days ago. I saw him sitting there, parts exposed and clothes slashed to pieces, and I thought he was gonna attack me.” Franky gained an uneasy expression at the memory, but he relaxed out of it. “But all he said was ‘I’ve been expecting you’ and ‘Mission accomplished.’ Then he got up and walked away without another word, but he definitely had a hard time of it. And there wasn’t even a scratch on the _Sunny.”_

I frowned at that, putting a hand to my chin in thought. “Hmmm….”

“And Rayleigh told me later that Kuma told him he worked for the Revolutionary Army and he wanted to get us away from the Admirals. I think you guys half-expected that. He saved our lives.”

My eyes widened sharply.

“And after we vanished from the island, Kuma-san visited Rayleigh and told him that he didn’t have much time left. I don’t know what made him obey the Navy, but he agreed to be a guinea pig and his body be modified into a cyborg piece by piece, and he somehow lost his personality before the War of the Best.”

“Doflamingo mentioned that,” I spoke up. “They turned Kuma into a mindless machine for the Pacifista program, completely wiping out who he was right at the last second.” My eyes narrowed, remembering what Kuma had been like at that time. “I hate it when people do that to others – take their free will, what makes them them. People have tried to do it to me before and it’s ended badly on their end of things. Maybe I should let Vegapunk get his hands on me so that I can punch him in the face for doing what he did to Kuma.”

“You don’t know if Vegapunk is doing this on the Navy’s orders or of his own volition,” Robin pointed out. “You need more information before you can make a decision like that.”

I growled a little, but I didn’t say anything to argue that. I could see by the look in Robin’s eye that she was curious about my comment about people attempting to do to me what happened to Kuma, and I knew I would have to answer that later.

“But I don’t think he could guess what each of us would do after we got separated,” Chopper spoke up. “Even so, he waited for us at the ship without his personality?”

“He made Dr. Vegapunk, who modified him, agree to program a mission into his mind,” Franky explained. “’Defend the pirate ship until the day that one of the Straw Hats comes back to the ship.’ That’s why, for the last 2 years, without his own memory, he had been carrying out his own orders, as a human weapon, waiting for us.”

“That’s insane,” Zoro said.

“It’s…hmmm.” I frowned. “If Vegapunk agreed to it, there might be something else going on here, all right.”

“And why did he do such a thing for us?” Zoro pressed.

“Terms like ‘connection,’ ‘Revolutionary Army,’ remind me about Luffy’s father,” Usopp spoke up. “The Revolutionary Army’s leader.”

“I don’t know my father that well,” Luffy said. “But I guess that bear-like guy was a good guy, huh?”

“If he has connections back to the RA, I guess so.” I frowned. “Still, though, why would Vegapunk agree to such a request? Did he see it as a last will and testament and decided to humor Kuma? Or was there something else going on?”

It was definitely making me consider causing my perspective on Vegapunk to turn a complete 180, that’s for sure.

“There is no mistake that he’s the one who gave us the past 2 worthwhile years,” Franky spoke up again. “We can’t even ask him why he did it but just remember that. Bartholomew Kuma turned out to be one of our greatest allies. But even if we meet him again, Kuma is now a heartless human weapon. That’s all I have to say.”

“I appreciate what he did, but there are still some mysteries,” Zoro said. “I hope we can find out his motive one day.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Ally?” Sanji asked suddenly.

“Oh, you woke up, Sanji!” Chopper was instantly in doctor mode.

“Eat lunch!” Luffy encouraged. “It’s from the Maiden Island!”

“Maiden Island?” Sanji groused as he sat up. “Is that Kuma guy _really_ an ally? Don’t you realize where _I_ was for the past two years?”

“Wherever it was, you definitely came back with side-effects,” I commented dryly.

Sanji’s expression shifted to lovey-dovey for a second, but it switched back to an angered one moments later. “What kind of training were you doing at the dream island full of women, Luffy?!”

“Whoa, whoa, Sanji-san, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but let’s enjoy the voyage now!” Brook said. “Do you wanna sing with me?”

“Stop trying to cheer me up!” Sanji snapped in reply. “I feel pathetic!”

“If Sanji decides to hold onto that the whole way through the New World, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stand him by the end of it,” I muttered to Usopp.

Usopp nodded in agreement. “Luffy is really lucky to have gone through what he did, but comparing each other’s training over the last two years isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

I shook my head in agreement.

**Time Break**

“How deeply are we submerged now?” Luffy asked, looking up at the top of our bubble ceiling.

“It’s getting darker and darker,” Usopp agreed.

“We went through the euphotic zone, and we’re at the bottom of the twilight zone now,” Franky said, glancing up. “It must be more than one thousand meters below.”

I hummed, looking up at the near-darkness of the sea. “We’ll probably start seeing angler fish and weird sea monsters that most human eyes have never laid eyes on.”

“It’s really quiet,” Robin commented. “It feels different from submersibles. It’s…more like flying through the sky.”

“The sky, huh?” Nami repeated. “Hmm. I have to start using what I studied on Weatheria for two years.”

“Whale!” Chopper yelled suddenly. “There is a whale!”

“Laboon! Laboon!” Brook scrambled to the side of the ship as a huge, white whale suddenly swam past us.

“No, that’s old man Whitebeard!” Luffy countered.

Other whales started passing by us – large, dark blue creatures that blended in with the darkening water quite well.

“So cool,” I said, awed. “You don’t to see a pod from _inside_ the pod like this every day!”

“Hey, hey, there is no time to relax and watch whales,” Usopp muttered. “Seventy percent will sink! _Seventy percent!_ I can’t just sit around!”

I wandered over to Usopp as he stood on the stairs up to the helm, peering out with his telescope. “Usopp, relax. Nami’ll let us know when we’re in the clear for the current.”

“I just can’t believe we have a less than fifty percent chance to get to Fishman Island,” Usopp replied, not taking his eyes off the ocean around us. “I don’t see any creatures or Sea Kings or obstacles that look dangerous yet.”

“See? Nothing to worry abou—“

“There’s a creature at six o’ clock!”

I cut myself off with an expression of surprise as Usopp faced the back of the ship.

“Is it a creature? No… Hey, guys! There is a ship kind of thing coming from behind at us!”

“What?” Zoro and Sanji asked at once.

“A ship?” Luffy repeated.

“Let me see.” I pushed past Usopp and moved to the back of the ship.

Sure enough, in the distance behind us, was a ship.

“It’s coming right towards us!” Usopp added.

“It looks like there’s something in front of it!” I frowned as the ship started coming up fast on us.

In seconds the ship was ramming into us from the side, causing _Sunny_ to rock as a result of the force.

“It’s a pirate ship!” Chopper squealed.

“They’re pushing against us!” Usopp added.

“I bet they’re trying to force the bubble to pop!” I called as I made my way back to the main deck. “We have to do something about that _now_ before we’re done for!”

“They’re gonna come through the bubble!” Namie called worriedly.

“Who are they?!” Luffy demanded.

I frowned at the people on the other deck. Most of them were pale-skinned, but there was one guy who was dark-skinned and long-limbed, with black, greasy hair, and an unusually long tongue that was sticking out of his mouth in an odd way.

“Whoever they are, they definitely look like they want to see our plans popped,” I said darkly.


	5. We got some obstacles here

**Maria’s POV**

“RUN!” Usopp yelled.

“Hard to port!” Franky bellowed.

Sanji quickly ran past me and turned the helm in order to get _Sunny_ away from the pirate ship that was coming up on us, but it was very different moving _in_ water as opposed to _on top of_ water.

And then there was the bellowing of some kind of sea monster coming from the water.

“That sounds so familiar,” Nami muttered, frowning.

“What does?” I looked over at where Nami was clinging to the railing of the stairs and Brook was hiding behind her. “That bellowing?”

“Yeah…I’m not sure where I’ve heard it befo—“

The other pirate ship rammed us again, nearly throwing me onto my back.

“They’re persistent,” Zoro commented.

“What do they want from us?” Luffy demanded.

The bubbles from _Sunny_ and their ship started bumping up against each other.

“The bubble is gonna pop!” Usopp exclaimed in a panic.

“You’re doing great, Sea Cow!” I heard someone call faintly from the other ship.

“Sea Cow?” Nami repeated. A look of realization crossed her face. “Wait a minute! That’s—“

_Mooooooo!_

I blinked a couple times when I heard the bellowing roar again. “Okay, that _does_ kind of sound like an angry cow. But how do you—“

Nami ran out from behind the mast and up onto the front of the ship. I quickly followed after her in order to see what she was up to.

“Hey, Momoo!” Nami called. “You’re Momoo of the Arlong Pirates, aren’t you?!”

The cow monster turned.

“Do you remember me?! It’s Nami – I was at Arlong Park!”

I blinked. “Remem – oooh, right.”

I’d nearly forgotten that Nami had been part of the Arlong Pirates – that was something that had come up here two years ago with Hachi.

To have it happen _again_ with this cow sea monster…it couldn’t have been a coincidence. And yet…

“Hm? Hey, Luffy, doesn’t he look familiar?” Sanji called from the helm behind Nami.

Luffy popped up. “Yeah?”

Momoo instantly looked downright _terrified_.

A crazed laugh came from the pirate ship, and I turned my head and jumped when I saw what was going on.

The creepy guy with the tongue had stuck his head through the bubble – he was coming through from _his ship_ to _ours._

“Whoa! He’s coming through the bubble!” Luffy exclaimed.

I quickly moved down onto the main deck as the others moved into attacking stances on the main deck, shifting to my armor as I did.

I didn’t want to use my fire down here – that would use up our oxygen, and besides, fire and water didn’t mix very well. What I could do in my armored form, on the other hand, was another matter entirely.

“Guys! Are you ready?” the creep declared to his pale-skinned crew. I noticed now that _all of them were carrying spears._ That was not a good thing.

“Yes!” his crew announced at once.

“While they’re dumbfounded, kill them all!”

Dumbfounded. Yeah, sure. And I’m an inexperienced amnesiac again.

“Let’s go!” He jumped onto our deck. “Guys, follow my lead!”

Before any of them could move, the Momoo took off towards the surface at a breakneck, panicked pace that caused me to watch in confused curiosity.

…wonder what it was that made him take off that fast. Luffy and Sanji, maybe? I vaguely remembered something about them encountering it at some point….

The dark-skinned creep didn’t notice. His tongue curled around as he laughed; his grin was a bit too wide. “All right. By way of greeting, fire the gattling gun!”

Probably meant to be an order for his crew.

“Kill all the Straw Hats and…” He threw his arms back dramatically, as though expecting a show.

I relaxed out of my attacking stance, but I didn’t relax out of my armor. I wasn’t about to let my guard drop around this guy, no sir.

“Huh?” He turned and looked back, and completely lost all his composure as soon as he saw that his ship wasn’t there – and neither was his backup.

Franky grabbed the guy while he was standing there in shock, then turned and started walking towards the deck of the ship.

The creep started struggling instantly. “No! Don’t throw me out into the water! That’s something you shouldn’t do! You have to value people’s life!”

“Oh, yeah, like you were valuing _ours_ a minute ago?” I snapped, hands on my hips.

The creep kept screaming -- something about the gods and how they were watching over us.

Franky dropped him headfirst onto the deck right in front of the railing. “You’re being inconsistent! You were gonna fire a gattling gun and kill us all!”

“No, that was just…that was just a play on words,” the freak said weakly.

“Like I’m gonna believe that for a second,” I muttered to Usopp. He nodded in agreement.

“That wasn’t playing,” Sanji said, coming over and frowning at the creep.

“Who are you?” Zoro joined Sanji. “You must be the captain of the ship.”

The creep definitely recognized Zoro, because he quickly moved onto his hands and knees. “No way! I’m not a captain! I’m just, uh, I was forced to be a slave for them!”

I rolled my eyes. Clear lie right there, that.

“Oh, I’m sick of being on that ship!”

“He’s making ridiculous excuses,” Usopp muttered.

“Yeah, these ones are totally out there,” I agreed, motioning a corkscrew with one hand next to an ear.

“Oh yeah! This is great! Can I stay on this ship for a while?” While the creep’s voice sounded cheerful, his face was clearly malicious. “Please?” He bowed, hiding his face.

“Well, he is kind of pathetic,” Chopper commented.

“Noooo, Chopper, he’s a creep who wants to do _something_ on this ship that’ll probably end with all of us drowning,” I said flatly.

“He just made it up!” Usopp agreed.

“What?! He just made it up?!” Chopper squeaked.

I facepalmed.

“Hey, where did you find the Sea Cow who was drawing your ship?” Nami asked, coming down from the helm.

“Oh?” The creep raised his head and that tongue made an appearance again as he licked his lips. That thing basically looked like a tail he’d had put in his mouth. Disgusting. “Here is…mmm…Cutie-san! You’re the cat burglar.”

“Stop looking at our navigator like that!” Sanji snapped, knocking the guy in the head with a foot. He gave Nami a thumbs-up and a smile. “Nami-san! You’re safe—“

I quickly moved to grab Sanji again as the nosebleed rocket went off. Since I grabbed an arm this time he ended up rocketing over my head and slamming his head into the deck.

“That’s getting to be a pain!” Usopp yelled.

“Chopper!” I barked.

“On it!” Chopper dragged Sanji back a short distance and started plugging his nose again.

“I just caught that sea monster somewhere,” the creep said, not having yet recovered from Sanji’s kick. “Experienced people have those animals pull their ship.”

“What?!” Luffy said in surprise. “Is that so?” He grinned.

I got a bad feeling about this guy and an even _worse_ feeling about his suggestion.

**Time Break**

Tying up the creep ended up being Zoro’s job, since I didn’t want to get too close after his reaction to Nami’s appearance, and Robin definitely didn’t, either. Something about him didn’t make me feel safe enough to relax out of my armor despite the fact that he was tied up, though, but I was fine with that.

Being in my armor meant that I was more prepared for whatever it was that could end up coming.

“I wanna find a sea monster!”

Meanwhile, Luffy had taken our hitchhiker’s words to heart and was trying to find a creature that could pull _Sunny_ along with ease.

“I honestly think that finding one to pull the ship is more trouble than it’s worth,” I commented. “We’ve been fine without one so far; why go looking for one?”

“Oh, it’s a turtle! Aw, it’s too small, come on.”

Luffy, of course, didn’t hear me because he was so focused on his task.

“Hey, Nami?” Usopp came over as Chopper and Brook started working on “rehabilitating” Sanji to get him used to women again over on another part of the deck. “The direction we’re heading is slightly off from where the Log Pose is pointing.”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Nami held up her Log Pose as I came over. “The right course should be southwest of where it’s pointing.”

“Why that way?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s faster to go straight,” Luffy agreed. “Why should we take that direction?”

“If we did go straight, we’d be taken away by the sea current and get stuck by an undersea mountain or volcano,” Nami replied.

“Aah. Yeah, that makes sense.” I nodded. “Those can be pretty hazardous obstacles down here.”

“What?!” Chopper squealed. “Volcano?! It’s scary to be in the water!”

“It’s scary anywhere.” I called back. “We’ll be fine, Chopper.”

“I thought the sea currents in the Grand Line were volatile.” Usopp frowned as Nami pulled on a jacket. “Is there any stable current?”

“Yeah, but just one,” Nami replied. “Everyone! It’s gonna get colder from here on out, so wear a coat or something if you need it.” She sent me a pointed look. “Or…Maria, do you think you could warm things up in here?”

“I could,” I acknowledged. “But it’s gonna take quite a bit of energy to heat up a space this large. And don’t ask me to set up fires, either – we’ve got plenty of air right now, but if I use up a large amount of the oxygen just to keep the fire burning, we’re gonna be in trouble.”

Nami nodded as Usopp stared at me with wide eyes. “I was wondering about that. Do you think you could just…focus on a small area around yourself, then?”

“Yeah, that won’t be a problem. Just let me know when it starts to get _really_ cold down here, because I won’t be able to really notice.” I gained a sheepish expression.

“Are we going somewhere cold?” Zoro asked. “Not the deep sea?”

I snorted. “The deep sea _is_ cold. It’s because there isn’t any sunlight down here to give the area warmth, so it gets colder than a winter’s night down here. Because of all the currents, though, the sea doesn’t freeze into a briny ice.”

“How do you know about that?” Usopp looked at me in surprise.

“I’ve dived pretty deep in other places.” I smirked. “Some towns I’ve been to are only accessible by flying or by going through underwater tunnels. It can get to be pretty dark and cold down there.”

“Picture the sea as a bath tub,” Franky called down from the helm. “The hot water goes up, and the cold water settles at the bottom.”

“Oh, yeah?” Luffy stared picking his nose. “I’m not a big fan of baths, so I wouldn’t know.”

I snorted. “I think at some point we’re gonna have to fix that.”

“The temperature isn’t the only difference,” Brook spoke up. “In the deep layer of the sea, there are giant currents called deep currents that you don’t get to see very often. Those currents flow totally independently from surface currents.”

“There are currents under currents?!” Usopp asked in surprise as I nodded in agreement to Brook’s words. “You know many things!”

“Yohohohohoho! Because I’m really old!”

“All currents are connected,” Franky called over. “One current flows eastward and the other one flows westward. They could also flow upward or downward. It’s like a giant dragon.”

“Some people have actually claimed that certain currents _are_ sea beasts of some kind,” I added. “It’s how some currents have gotten names.”

“Like what?” Usopp asked.

“Harmony of the Sea is one that I ran into a couple times. It’s a current that causes a lot of whirlpools off the coast of an area that I spent a year traveling around in. Supposedly, a giant, winged creature that can cause hurricanes with a flap of its wings created the current and swims it occasionally, accidentally causing storms in the process.”

“Whoa….”

I wasn’t about to tell them that the creature’s name was actually Lugia and he was a buddy of mine yet.

“Deep currents flow really slowly,” Brook added. “Once they flow to the deep sea, it takes two thousand years until that specific part of the current flows upward to the surface.”

“Two thousand years?!” Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper repeated in shock.

“Yes. That’s why there are a number of myths about the dark and undiscovered deep currents.”

I looked around as the sea gradually became darker. It was creating quite the spooky ambiance for Brook’s explanation.

“Monsters! Curses! Spirits of the dead!”

“What?! There are ghosts in the deep sea?!” Chopper squealed in alarm.

“Sunken ships end up down in the deep currents and stuck in the ocean floor when they sink,” I commented. “If we could make more advanced diving gear to handle the water pressure and submarines that are capable of doing the same, it would be an archeologist’s dream down here. Biologist’s, too, since there’s all sorts of creatures down here that never see the light of day!”

“Don’t sound so excited about it!” Usopp pointed a finger at me accusingly. “I forgot how creepy you and Robin both get, and I don’t need you to remind me right this instant!”

I rolled my eyes at Usopp.

Luffy laughed. “This is exciting!”

“Ghosts…I don’t know about that,” Nami commented. “But we are gonna get on a downward flow. That’s how we get to the deep sea.”

The mention of the currents seemed to go over the most of the boys’ heads, because they all stared blankly out at the darkening sea.

Nami huffed. “You guys didn’t understand a bit of what I said, did you?”

I snorted. “Since when do they ever?”

Brook laughed. “Do you want to sing, Nami-san?”

“Shut up!”

I shook my head at the two of them, then paused.

There was a strange, bubbling sound coming from the water.

“What’s that sound?” Chopper asked, confused.

“Nami, I see it!” Robin called down from the helm.

“Yeah?” Nami started up.

“The wonderful current?” Luffy bounded after her eagerly, the rest of us following.

We quickly gathered at the helm, and I couldn’t help but grin along with everyone’s exclamations of awe over what the downward current ahead of us looked like.

“It’s like a massive waterfall in the sea!” Usopp exclaimed.

“You don’t get to see something like this everyday!” I agreed.

“What a spectacular stream!” Robin said in awe. “I wonder how deep it is.”

“It could go straight down to the ocean floor with the speed it’s going,” I remarked.

“I can’t see the bottom!” Usopp squealed. “It’s completely dark! We’re dead! With that speed, we’re gonna be slammed into the bottom and die!”

“Is it really okay to go with the flow?” Nami asked, suddenly sounding doubtful.

“Don’t worry about the ship,” Franky replied. “ _Sunny_ is the strongest ship built from the treasure tree Adam. We’ll be fine.”

“All right!” Luffy crowed from the front of the ship. “Advance!”

I laughed in agreement, but some part of me felt a little uneasy for some odd reason.

The creep we had tied up down below must’ve been feeling the same thing. “Straw Hats! You should turn back now! It’s dangerous!”

“I had forgotten about you,” Zoro commented, turning and looking back at the creep.

“There is a monster!”

“What?” I frowned, and glanced back at the creep myself.

“What are you talking about?” Usopp asked. “Cut that crap! Those myths are just made up by someone.”

The deck suddenly became unusually quiet. I turned in order to see why and froze.

Right in front of the ship – still unnoticed by Usopp – was a _giant octopus._ The tentacles themselves were large enough to wrap around _Sunny_ more than once, and if I could compare it to the size of any of the creatures that I remember encountering…it rivaled Kyogre in size, let’s just put it that way.

“Uh…Usopp?” I asked. “You…might want to look behind you.”

“B-behind me?” Usopp stammered. He turned his head slowly, not wanting to see what it was the rest of us were seeing.

And as soon as he saw the giant sea monster, he screamed in terror. “It’s the Kraken!”

Usopp, Brook, and Chopper instantly went into total panics, screaming and running around the front deck.

“Looks like he broke a lot of ships!” Franky noted. “Ships that had left for the New World have been attacked!”

“Please! I don’t wanna die!” the creep begged, coming up onto the front deck. “Go back! If you just wait for a few days, it would—“

“Shut up!” Luffy shot back. “I have a good idea!”

I smirked. “Here we go.”

“Let’s tame him!”

“Huh?” came the collective response from the others.

“What did you say, Luffy?!”

“Let’s tame the octopus and make him pull our ship!”

“Absolutely possible,” I agreed.

“Don’t encourage him!” Usopp roared back.

“Why? I’ve done similar things before myself! The creature that made the Harmony of the Sea current is a friend of mine, and so is the one that’s considered god over a large stretch of sea in another area! Kyogre is definitely about as big as that Kraken down there, so I don’t see why it can’t be done!”

My confident grin was met by a wide-eyed, panicked look from Usopp that _clearly_ said he thought I was crazy.

“Haven’t you two taken a good look at this thing?!” Usopp wailed. “It must’ve been around for several hundred years! The Kraken appears in many myths in the world – it’s like a visionary creature!”

“Maybe it should meet Kyogre,” I countered with a grin. “Then we’ll see who’s the more dangerous one.”

“I am nothing but a skeleton of bones and it has no skeleton,” Brook commented calmly. “It’s like the opposite of me.”

“I DON’T CARE!” Usopp yelled back. “You all are crazy – especially you two!” He pointed at me and Luffy. “Talking about taming sea monsters and gods of the sea – just how crazy are you?!”

I shrugged. “No more crazy than I usually am?” I grinned. “Face facts, Usopp, this is just the cusp of the New World. If we can’t handle one measly sea monster, then how good of a crew are we?”

“Measly?!” Usopp groaned. “Now I know you’re crazy.”

Luffy burst out laughing.

“You’re sketching?!” Chopper screeched at Robin. “How can you be relaxed about this?!”

“I’ll help you, but do you have any plan, Luffy?” Zoro spoke up.

Luffy frowned at that. “The problem is that we’re in the sea.”

“No, no, no,” Usopp said weakly. “The problem is the size of it.”

“Nah, it’s not that.” I shook my head and chuckled. “I’ve seen bigger monsters.”

“Maria, shut up! I’m trying to save our lives here!”

“So am I. We can’t feasibly turn back now – the current’s got us. We’re going to have to face this sea monster head on.”

Usopp made a whining noise as the rest of the crew started arguing about what we really should be doing – turn and run if we still had the chance, go around, or face the beast head-on.

“There’s something coming from behind!” Franky called.

_Mooooooooo!_

_“Brother!”_

“They came back!” Usopp exclaimed, running to one side of the ship. Luffy, the creep we’d tied up, and I followed suit, although I stayed as far as I could from our momentary prisoner.

“Caribou! Brother!” our prisoner called back.

_“We’re gonna save my brother!”_

_“Yes!”_

“You came back to save me, huh?!”

“I figured you were lying about being a slave,” I muttered.

The creep looked over at me, and his eyes widened when he saw the armor. Finally got around to recognizing me, huh, creep?

One of Kraken’s tentacles flew up from the rest of them and grabbed the ship, Momoo managing to stay out of the thing’s reach and still trying to swim away from it as far and as fast as it possibly could.

The creep’s expression when from delight to horror. “No! D-don’t do it!”

_Pop!_

A number of screams went up from the Scared Trio as the creep looked on in shock and horror.

“The coating popped!” Chopper squealed.

“That ship is even bigger than _Sunny!”_ Usopp added.

I didn’t really know _what_ to feel about it, honestly. I mean, yeah these guys were planning on killing us, but they were also trying to get their crew member back.

“Oh, guys,” the creep moaned.

There was a moment of silence, then—

“They look like a school of jellyfish.”

I snorted at Zoro’s comment.

“Shut up, Roronoa! Cut it out!” the creep snapped.

“It’s coming!” Usopp called. I peered over the side of the ship and – yup, Kraken was definitely getting closer, and it was suddenly upon us, hissing.

“It’s too big!” Chopper exclaimed.

“How can we fight against it?!” Nami demanded.

I pulled a thin, rectangular device out of nowhere and started bouncing it from hand to hand lightly. “Well, we could go the easy way, or the hard way.”

“What’s the easy way?” Usopp asked me.

“I summon Kyogre here and she handles the beastie.” I grinned as Usopp paled abruptly.

“A-and the hard way?”

“Gear Third!” Luffy started biting on his thumb as Zoro started drawing one of his swords. Usopp scrambled over to them immediately and pulled them back.

“Stop it! You’ll break the bubble!”

One of the tentacles started to come down on top of the ship; Franky quickly pulled a lever next to the helm. “Chicken Voyage!”

 _Sunny_ moved back just fast enough to avoid getting hit.

“Can we get away somehow?” Nami squeaked.

“Don’t do anything! I’ll beat it!” Luffy said determinedly. “Maria, don’t summon anything!”

“All right, captain.” I shrugged as the device in my hands disappeared in a flash, causing Usopp to moan in terror and put his head in his hands.

“You’ll break the bubble if you do anything!” Chopper yelled in a panic.

“Listen! If you wanna fight against it that much, here is an idea!” the creep called.

“What is it? Tell me.” Luffy looked over at him.

**Time Break**

“That’s the extra-vehicular Flutter Kick Coating! An extra vehicular diving suit! As long as you’re in it, you can fight as you want even in water!”

I frowned at Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. Somehow, our prisoner had known how to coat them in bubbles that caused the coating to cling to their legs and leave the rest of them free, with a rope tied around their waist that led back to the mast. He’d offered to coat me, too, but I was getting _nowhere near_ that creep and my abilities wouldn’t be able to do much out there, so I opted to pass.

Thankfully, all he did was leer at me, then leave me alone, but I got the feeling that he was going to try to come after me again at some point.

“You shouldn’t have done that, stranger!” Usopp growled. “We wanted to run away! Now they’re gonna fight!”

“It was inevitable, Usopp,” I said back.

“Because you _encouraged Luffy!”_

“I told you guys to run from the beginning,” the creep replied, leaning close to Usopp, “but that Captain-san won’t listen! Would you rather they fought _on_ this ship?”

Usopp quickly changed his tune and started telling the other three good luck instead.

I moved a couple steps away from the creep as he tried to move closer.

He found himself facing down the business end of a cannon instead of my right hand in seconds.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said flatly.

“I-I thought you said you couldn’t use your—“

“Fire, no. Shots of pure energy don’t need oxygen to go off.”

The creep took the hint and bolted to another part of the deck. He could move unusually well for being so tied up.

“Let’s go!” Luffy barked.

“Right.”

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji ran for the bubble coating around the ship…but they left the ropes behind.

“Wait!” Nami called. “You have to attach the safety rope! You’ll be separated!”

But they’d already’d gone through the ship’s coating and were heading towards Kraken.

“Yeesh, those guys can be pretty hard-headed when it comes to safety,” I commented.

“You were gonna summon a monster to fight a monster!” Usopp shot back.

“How would you have been able to do that, even if you did?” Robin asked as a question from Chopper turned Usopp’s attention away.

“I have a device that lets me get the attention of any of the friends I’ve made,” I explained. “Mostly creatures with the powers of Devil Fruits – the Pokémon ones I told you guys about. Kyogre’s one of them.”

“And they’re all right with you getting their attention this way? What if they don’t want to come?”

“Then they don’t come. Answering my call is completely optional, although for the most part they don’t ignore it.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m their Guildmaster. Basically captain.”

Robin’s eyes sparked with intrigued understanding.

“Franky Rocket Launcher!”

I turned my head right as Franky sent three miniature _missiles_ flying out of his left shoulder and through the bubble, into a stray tentacle from the octopus that was starting to come down towards us.

The explosion of fire was _spectacular._

Usopp and Chopper cheered, only to turn and scream when another tentacle started coming up the other side of the ship.

“Looks like it isn’t done with us yet!” I started considering going out there and summoning one of my Pokémon allies just to defend the ship when—

“Guard Point!”

_Bwoompf!_

The tentacle collided with the ship, causing it to rock back a bit, but it didn’t do any damage.

 Because Chopper had turned into a _giant fluffball_ in order to keep it off.

“Are you guys okay?” Chopper called down.

 _“Wow,_ Chopper! And I thought you couldn’t get any fluffier!” I called up with an amazed grin.

Kraken hissed and hit us again, sending us falling towards and underwater mountain sideways. I just barely held onto the deck’s railing while the boys still on the ship hit the bubble’s side.

“Uh oh!”

“Mil Fleur! Gigantesco Mano!”

My eyes widened as a large pair of hands – made up of smaller hands – suddenly came to life on the side of the ship and pushed us away from the mountain. “Whoa! Robin, nice one!”

I looked over at her and frowned when I saw she was struggling as she managed to right the ship.

“Nice, Robin! You saved us!” Usopp yelled in excitement.

Robin relaxed as the hands dissipated. “Good. Although I’m in water, I was okay because it was just a brief moment.”

“Even when you’re in here, it’s hard to use your Devil Fruit out there, huh?” I noted. “We’ll definitely have to keep that in mind as we keep going.”

Robin nodded in agreement.

“I kinda wonder how Luffy is going to handle—“

I cut myself off when I saw what Luffy was up to.

_There was a giant fist out in the sea._


	6. Deep Sea

**Maria’s POV**

My jaw dropped when I saw just how big Luffy’s fist had gotten. “Was that Gear Third or—“

And then his fist turned back, causing my eyes to widen sharply.

“What is that?!” Usopp yelped.

I quickly moved to the side of the deck that was facing the fight, joining the others. “Armament Hardening! So he did master that Haki after all!”

“Armament?” Chopper looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Sanji just took off out of his bubble!” Brook exclaimed.

“He’s really fast – almost like a Fishman!” Usopp marveled. “That’s so cool!”

As we watched, one of Sanji’s legs started glowing like a star, and he slammed it into one of Kraken’s tentacles, turning a large section of it into something that looked like it had been dropped on a grill!

“Whoa! Okay, I need him to show me how he managed to do the fire thing underwater so that I can do that later.” I grinned widely.

“You want to break physics too?!” Usopp demanded sharply.

“I want to get stronger, and if that means breaking physics then scrap yes!”

While Sanji burst back towards his bubble with the same speed that he’d exhibited going towards Kraken, the monster started to move to hit him. But Zoro moved forward first…

_…and cut the tentacle into six pieces._

“Holy scrap!” I yelped.

“That was so cool….” Franky’s jaw was hanging open.

“I-I couldn’t see his movement!” Usopp marveled.

And then Luffy’s fist _moved._ And I mean really moved. That large, black fist slammed into Kraken’s face with enough force that the sea monster definitely couldn’t have been able to defend himself.

“He blew it away!” Usopp exclaimed in amazement.

“He’s gotten so much stronger!” Nami yelled.

I grinned. “I bet this isn’t even everything he’s capable of yet.”

“Even while he’s in the sea,” Brook murmured.

As Kraken fell back, something started wiggling its way up out from the mass of tentacles – a…a shark? Wearing a shirt of some kind?

I frowned at it, but then my frown turned to panic when I noticed Kraken falling down into the waterfall current – taking Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro with it!

“They’ve been swept away by the downward current!” Robin exclaimed in alarm as the world went dark.

“Follow them!” Usopp yelled. “We have to stay together!”

“Got it!” Franky called back as he reached the helm.

And then _we_ were swept up in the current.

I gripped the railing in order to keep myself from falling down to the front of the ship as everyone else goes flying, screaming. I gritted my teeth as I kept my grip, and everything descended down into the darkness.

Nami started yelling orders to keep us going in the right direction, and we quickly moved to action to keep the ship as stable as possible and the sails going in the right direction.

We were _not_ going to slam into the sea floor and die today, _that’s_ for sure!

**Time Break**

**3 rd POV**

Maria was leaning against the deck railing when Usopp finally came to, rubbing the spot on his head where he’d hit the mast as soon as the ship had leveled out.

“I’m alive!” Usopp said in awe. Then he looked around at the group and frowned. “What? Why are you all so glum? Oh, I know! You guys can’t do anything without me—“ He stopped short and started shivering. “It’s so cold here!”

There was a faint pulse of heat from Maria that took some of the edge off, but the cold was still there.

“We can’t find Luffy and the other two,” Robin explained. “We’ve been separated.”

“What?!”

“Considering how dark it is, we haven’t been able to see very far beyond the bubble,” Maria added, motioning to their protective shield against the water.

“I hope they haven’t been shredded to pieces by the monster,” Robin commented.

Maria snorted as Usopp muttered something about Robin’s terrifying imagination.

Something moved in the water around them, but since it was so dark it was hard to tell where the movement was coming from or what was making it.

“It’s too dark – I wanna look for them but I can’t see anything,” Usopp said.

“I’m not good with darkness,” Brook muttered. “I feel something, don’t you?”

“Maria?”

“Hmm?” Maria looked over at Robin.

“Do you think one of your friends would be willing to help us?”

Maria shrugged. “Probably. But predators might also take that light and see us as possible prey. I don’t think Luffy’d like it very much if we ended up stuck like that, you know?”

“You didn’t have to put it that way,” Usopp muttered.

“But I do agree with you, Brook – there’s definitely _something_ in these waters. What the scrap it is and whether or not it thinks we’re edible, though, I have no clue.”

“Did you have to put that so calmly?!”

Maria rolled her eyes at Usopp’s screech. “Being panicked right now isn’t gonna help us any.”

“We probably submerged around seven thousand meters,” Franky spoke up. “Even the Shark Submerge can’t take the pressure this deep.”

“Are we near the Fishman Island?” Chopper asked hopefully. “Maybe they got there already.”

“Camie-chan said it’s located at ten thousand meters below sea level,” Robin corrected as Maria nodded in agreement.

“We have to submerge three thousand meters more?!”

“We’ll be fine, Chopper,” Maria said in response to his screech. “Those three will be, too. We’ll catch up to them eventually.”

“All they have are small bubbles, though,” Usopp pointed out. “Even if they’re alive, there isn’t enough air, so it’s dangerous!”

“That’s why I told them to attach the safety rope!” Nami groaned.

“Even if you had forcibly tied it to them yourself they’d probably have taken it off anyway,” Maria remarked. “This was probably inevitable, considering them. We’ll pick them up eventually.”

“We won’t accomplish anything standing around like this,” Franky spoke up. “Let’s look for them. I have search lights.”

Maria raised an eyebrow as Usopp and Chopper suddenly looked hopeful.

“Is it your eyes?!” Chopper asked as Franky pulled up his sunglasses.

“Franky….Nipple Lights!”

Chopper’s and Usopp’s hopeful looks were instantly dashed as Maria’s eyes narrowed in an annoyed, disappointed expression.

“Why there?!” Usopp demanded.

“Yeah, no, not dealing with that,” Maria said flatly. She pulled out a gray, rectangular device with a half-red, half-white button on the bottom of the top half, then pressed down. “Hey, Chichi? If you’re free, I could really appreciate your help.”

“Th-that’s huge!”

Maria looked up at Usopp’s exclamation, and her eyebrows shot up when she caught sight of something hovering up above the ship.

 _Huge sea monsters,_ capable of swallowing their ship in one bite.

“Let’s get away!” Franky quickly manned the helm and drove the ship on past the creatures, which left them alone.

As soon as they cleared out of the group, a bright flash lit up the deck near where Maria was standing, getting the others’ attention. When the light faded, it revealed…

“A fish?” Robin looked over curiously at the mostly-blue creature with a yellow domino mask around red eyes, and two softly glowing lights that rose from the top of its head. “How is it not flopping around gasping for air?”

Maria ignored Robin’s comment and knelt down in front of the fish and smiled.  “Hey, Chichi. It’s been a while, huh?”

The fish-creature cooed and nuzzled into Maria with a delighted expression, then made the sound of something that sounded a tad minor.

Maria chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I haven’t checked in on you guys for a while; sorry about that.”

“You can understand her?” Chopper asked in wide-eyed amazement.

Chichi looked over at him, and her eyes widened sharply as Maria chuckled.

“Sure I can. Lanturn like Chichi are Pokémon, and I know their language quite well.” Maria looked down at the creature as the others stared at her with wide, amazed eyes. “So, we’re kind of underwater right now on a pirate ship – I’d explain the details how, but it’s kind of confusing since they don’t have submarines like people do elsewhere. And we don’t have _proper_ lights, either.” Maria shot Franky a look.

Chichi followed her gaze and huffed, frowning as the little bulbs on her head flickered.

“So you think you can give us a hand?”

Chichi cooed something in the affirmative, then swam through the air to the front of the ship, shot Franky a dark look, then started glowing _very_ brightly.

Franky turned off his Nipple Lights in surprise. “Whoa! That’s a bright little fish!”

“Lanturn have electric currents running through them, so they can utilize that pretty well,” Maria said with a wide grin.

“Really?” Usopp was wide-eyed. “There are creatures like that? Wh-why haven’t we heard of them before?”

“Are they native to the New World?” Robin asked casually.

Maria shook her head. “Nah; Pokémon like Lanturn and others come from somewhere else.”

“Aha! Here’s _Sunny’s_ flood lights!” Franky flipped a switch on the helm.

“Chichi, maybe light up the back of the ship?” Maria called.

“Lan!” Chichi swam across the deck in mid-air, still glowing brightly, as she moved to position herself near the tangerine and Berry trees that had been growing for the last two years without Maria’s or Nami’s supervision. Maria followed after her with a smile.

“If a creature like that doesn’t live in the New World, then where does it come from?” Chopper asked Robin.

Robin shrugged, but the look on her face suggested she knew something. “That is a secret that Maria knows. Perhaps she will tell us in the future.”

“Hey, keep an eye out for the others!” Franky called. “They must be looking for us, too!”

“On it!” Maria called from _Sunny’s_ stern.

 _Sunny_ continued to drift downward, the others keeping an eye out for any sign of Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. With all the darkness outside, however, Chichi’s light and the floodlights on the _Sunny_ could only reach so far.

Robin made her way to the back of the ship, where Maria was talking to Chichi quite animatedly.

“—in a world where they do have things like electricity but nothing like computers or teleportation tech is pretty interesting, but I’m glad for the mix because it gives me a chance to experience things I never would have been able to otherwise.” Maria chuckled at Chichi’s wide eyes. “And the people here are fun, too – like Chopper down there, and Luffy and—“

“And me as well, I should hope?”

Maria looked up at Robin’s statement and nodded, smiling. “Yeah, definitely.” She frowned. “Any sign of the others yet?”

Robin shook her head. “And it seems that the creatures here are leaving us alone for now. I wonder if it has something to do with the light, or the fact that pirate ships simply don’t offer much sustenance to a sea monster’s diet.”

Chichi hummed and bobbed.

“Probably the second one, yeah, but they’re definitely gonna be curious,” Maria agreed.

“Indeed.” Robin sat down next to Maria, putting her back to the railing. “Maria, I know that you remembered more than just creatures from another planet and how to find the friends you’ve made over the course of your life.” She held out a hand to Chichi, who poked her nose against it before rubbing against Robin’s hand affectionately. “This…Lanturn, you called her? She has to come from a place that none of us will ever see.”

Maria’s smile faded slightly as Chichi looked over at her curiously. “Lan?”

Maria’s mouth pressed into a straight line, and she shook her head. “No, not yet. It doesn’t feel like the right time for it.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Telling all of you what I really am.”

Robin blinked at the statement. “What do you mean?”

Maria sighed. “There are…things, I can do, that go beyond just being a Reploid or just having a strange magic that I was born with. I’m sure you can already guess at them, since you’re right – Chichi, Lanturns, and other Pokémon just don’t exist in this dimension. Not unless someone else brings them here or causes a warp in space-time that makes them appear.”

“Like your device?”

“The PokeDex optionally summons, not rips holes between dimensions,” Maria corrected. She paused as Robin’s eyes sparked, and she gave the historian a dry look. “Yeah, I thought you’d know something about that.”

“So my assumptions are correct, then?”

“That remains to be seen.” Maria paused. “I’ll explain it to everyone when we manage to get through to the New World. First chance we get for a breather, I swear.”

Chichi fixed Maria with a look.

“Yeah, all right. Guildmaster’s promise, that’s the best you’re gonna have right now.” Maria looked at Robin seriously.

Robin considered that, then nodded. “All right. But I intend you to follow through on that.”

“You have my word. I intend to keep it.”

“Good. Now let’s see about finding the others before—“

“Look! A huge jellyfish!”

Maria, Robin, and Chichi turned their heads at Chopper’s cry and looked up.

Maria swallowed audibly when she saw the translucent, blue-purple jellyfish that was starting to come down on top of them as the others let out cries of awe. “Nope. Not dealing with that. Chichi, Thunder that thing!”

“LAN!” The Pokémon leapt at the bubble and slipped through it without a problem, then started up towards the jellyfish at considerable speed.

“Maria! Why do you want to—“

Usopp’s cry of alarm was cut off by a loud clap of sound as Chichi suddenly _lit up_ the water around them with a blast of electricity that sent the jellyfish flying back off the bubble of the ship. The flash revealed that there was _other_ large jellyfish in the area as well, with the electricity quickly spreading from fish to fish and stunning them as _Sunny_ kept going.

The Lanturn quickly flew back to the ship and popped through onto the main deck with an exhausted sigh of relief.

“Wow!” Usopp yelped. “Who knew that such a little thing like that could do so much?!”

Maria snorted as she and Robin came down onto the main deck. “You think that’s amazing? You should meet Pika.”

Chichi made a giggling noise that caused Chopper to squeal in shock.

“But, why did you tell Chichi to hit that jellyfish with a lightning bolt?” Usopp asked. “I mean, it was just passing over us, right?”

“Jellyfish have no brains, Usopp,” Maria replied flatly. “At least, none that we might be able to say for certain. That one probably sensed that we were big enough for food and was thinking about pulling us up into its bell to digest us.”

“EEeeehhhhhh?!”

“Maria is right,” Robin agreed. “I would not doubt that it would have been venomous to us.”

“To us?” Nami repeated.

Robin pointed back towards the stunned jellyfish. The rest of the crew present followed her gaze.

There were large fish taking the stunned jellyfish and swimming off into the darkness, swallowing them whole as they did.

“The jellyfish got eaten!” Chopper exclaimed.

“Welcome to marine ecology,” Maria said dryly. Chichi murmured something, and she nodded in agreement. “It’s either you barely survive, or you grow strong enough to beat your peers and then compete against your predator for dominance.”

“Thanks for that blast!” Franky called down. “Otherwise I would have set off a Coup de Burst and we would have lost some air!”

“What?!” Usopp yelped. “We would have _lost_ air if you did that?”

“Coup de Burst is a weapon that shoots a fair amount of air. But since we’re in the water, we only have a limited amount of air to work with. So when we shoot air out, the bubble is going to shrink.”

“Glad I thought that bringing in Chichi was a good idea,” Maria commented. She patted the Lanturn, who chirped back at Maria happily at the contact. “I hope we don’t run into many more monsters like that, though; Lanturns aren’t exactly known for having a great amount of power or speed.”

Chopper screamed suddenly. “The fish that were biting the jellyfish turned upside down!”

“We really missed the bullet there, then,” Maria commented. “Poison/Water-Types.” She looked down at her Pokémon. “You weren’t hit, were you?”

Chichi shivered, then shook her head.

Maria sighed in relief. “That’s good.”

“They contain a neurotoxin, as I thought,” Robin commented.

“The deep sea’s scary!” Chopper cried. “It’s dark too…There are a lot of fish with white eyes…It’s creepy here!”

“It’s normal for Chichi,” Maria commented. “You guys haven’t even seen the monsters that _we_ know yet.”

“I’m not sure I want to know!” Usopp replied.

Brook took a sip from a cup of tea. “Since the sea down here is always dark, the fish down here have rudimentary eyes. They don’t use them.”

Maria nodded in agreement as Usopp and Chopper sighed in agreement.

“So they can’t see well,” Chopper said.

“But they use other senses to see,” Maria spoke up. “Vibrations in the water, electrical surges – that’s why so many fish went after the jellyfish after Chichi set off that Thunder attack. They sensed the electrical discharge and came to investigate.”

“And there are ones that have developed eyes as well,” Robin added as Usopp started making faces at a nearby eel. It swam towards the boat a little and bared its teeth before swimming under _Sunny,_ causing Chopper and Usopp to fall back on their behinds.

“What’s that? How can I see things without eyes?” Brook asked, moving around behind Robin, Maria, and Chichi. “Do you people wanna know why? The answer is…tum, tum, tum, tum, tum…a secret!”

Maria rolled her eyes while Chichi stared at Brook with wide eyes.

“Laaaaaan.”

Maria snorted. “You don’t know the half of it. If you stick around long enough to meet Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, I’m sure you’ll be saying that we’re more crazy than just flat-out _strange.”_

“Hey!” Nami barked. “Stop messing around and look for them!”

As Chopper and Usopp scrambled to start calling for them again, Brook moved to join them, only for his feet to nudge against something.

“Hm? Say, everyone – have any of you seen that pirate guy?”

Maria turned at Brook’s question. “Pirate –“ Her eyes widened. “ _Oh, yeah._ The creep with the tail for a tongue. I haven’t seen him since we dropped down into this part of the sea.”

“I totally forgot about him,” Franky said. He made a face. “But, Maria, really?”

“Did you not see him when he was _invading_ the ship?” Maria hissed in reply.

“Lan!”

“Yes, Chichi, you can zap him when we find him.”

“Where did he go?” Chopper asked worriedly.

“He must be taking advantage of the darkness in this part of the sea to avoid detection,” Robin commented.

“Or maybe he got thrown off during the downward pull,” Chopper added.

Maria raised an eyebrow. “Well, yes, but I didn’t think you were going to be the one to suggest _that_ out of all of us, Chopper.”

“I bet that’s what happened,” Usopp said. “Since he was tied, up, he couldn’t hold onto anything!”

“But…he untied himself.” Brook held up the rope. In the glow from Chichi’s little bulbs, it was clear that it hadn’t been cut. “See?”

“Th-then, he’s somewhere on the ship?” Usopp asked. “Where is he?”

“I’ll find him,” Maria spoke up. “Reploid, remember? I’ve got access to tech that works with my powers.” Her blue eyes flickered, and they gained a red tint. “All right, infrared…where is there someone hiding on our ship?”

A barrel sitting near the stairs leading up to the helm shifted a little as the others turned their attention to other places around the ship. Maria focused on it instantly and frowned.

“Okay, what the heck?”

Franky started coming down the stairs next to the barrel. “What is—“ He paused when he saw what was going on with it.

Something slimy was slowly leaking out of it, and the head of the pirate they’d caught was plainly visible, a too-wide grin on his face.

Franky came over and got up close to the pirate’s face, frowning, while Maria motioned to Chichi and pointed at the barrel, making a quick motion with one hand, bringing her fingers in and out in a motion similar to an explosion going off.

Franky noticed and motioned with one hand as the pirate slunk back down into the barrel, knowing he’d been noticed. He took in a breath, then popped open a secret compartment on one of his arms and called, “Here he is!”

Franky then proceeded to hammer the barrel shut while tying a rope around the planks that kept the barrel’s shape. The pirate inside started protesting instantly.

Maria grinned as her eyes shifted back to their normal bright blue color. “Nice, Franky! Now his hiding place is his prison!”

“Now he can’t get away,” Franky said with a grin.

“How did he get in there?” Brook asked.

“Devil Fruit probably,” Maria said. “From what I was able to see of the heat that’s coming from inside that barrel, it basically looks like the kind of lukewarm consistency of a swamp.”

“And we weren’t paying attention,” Franky said grimly. “If he wasn’t so stupid, we could be in danger right now because of him.” He looked down. “And you’re right about the Devil Fruit thing, Maria. His body wasn’t taking form; it’s melted into mud.”

“So, he’s a Logia.” Maria nodded. When Chichi looked at her in confusion, she explained, “A human who’s eaten a fruit and basically become that element personified. Like, say, Fire, or Electricity. There are fruits that can do that.”

The Lanturn didn’t look like she quite believed what she was hearing.

“So he was only pretending to be caught,” Franky added.

The barrel started bouncing. “Hey, let me out of here, mister! Mister in swimshorts! I’ll become your servant!”

“Fat chance of that happening you snake-tongued creep!” Maria snapped back. “Yeesh. At least we know he’s in a place we can keep a better eye on him now.”

Chopper sat down as Franky walked away from the barrel, looking not quite up to snuff.

“What’s the matter, Chopper?” Franky asked.

“I don’t know. I feel hot all of a sudden.”

“It’s not me,” Maria said. “The heat I’m releasing is only in a small radius.” She frowned, closing one eye for a moment. “And…it’s – okay, whoa. There’s a _lot_ of heat coming from somewhere near us.”

Usopp, Robin, and Nami all quickly pulled off their coats.

“What happened?” Usopp demanded.

“Lan?” Chichi asked.

“No, it’s not Groudon, I haven’t called anyone else here,” Maria replied casually.

“Smoke!” Usopp exclaimed. “There’s smoke blocking our view forward!”

Everyone scrambled up to the front of the ship.

“Hydrothermal deposits!” Nami exclaimed, looking down at where the smoke was coming from.

“Huh?” Usopp asked in confusion.

Maria leaned over the railing a little to get a better look. “Underwater volcanoes!”


	7. Heating Up Down Below

“What?!” Usopp squeaked in a panic.

“Look down there, you can see that there were volcanic eruptions here!” Nami pointed down to the now-visible part of the ocean floor.

Chichi, who was hovering behind Maria, chirped something worriedly, now looking less like she was willing to be there.

Maria nodded, not looking back. “Yeah; go ahead and head back. I don’t think we’re gonna be needing that light of yours again for a while. And make sure Pika and the others know I’m _okay,_ all right?” She looked back at Chichi pointedly.

“Lan!” The fish-creature saluted, then vanished in a flash of light.

When the others looked at Maria, she shrugged. “What? She was getting tired and she can’t handle heat like this well. If we need light again, I can call on her or anyone else I count as friends who can light the way as easily.”

Franky quickly moved to the helm. “We have to get out of here before it has a chance to erupt!”

Chopper pulled himself up onto the railing at the helm, panting. His gaze moved, and a moment later he let out a squeal. “Something’s after us!”

“Carnivorous Tubeworms!” Usopp yelled.

“We have no choice!” Franky called. “Thanks to Maria and her friend, we’ve managed to make it this far without losing any air, but now we’re gonna have to use a little Coup de Burst!”

What followed was a repeated use of the Coup de Burst, with the bubble shrinking slightly each time.

“You know, I get the feeling that this bubble might have been even lower were it not for the fact that Chichi was able to fend that jellyfish off,” Maria commented as they finally got away from some of the stranger creatures and into calmer waters.

“Luffy and the others can’t survive here,” Chopper whimpered. I’m starting to get sad. I finally got to see him after two years….”

“They’re not gonna die so easily,” Maria commented with a shake of her head.

“Yeah!” Usopp agreed.

“I used Coup de Burst little by little, but we lost too much air,” Franky said worriedly.

A bright light suddenly showed up in front of the ship, getting the crew’s attention – and Maria’s skeptical frown along with it.

“What is that?! It’s so bright!” Chopper exclaimed.

“It could be a trap laid by an angler fish creature like Chichi, but one that lives in this part of the ocean,” Maria said grimly.

“Ehh? You mean it’s not Fishman Island?!”

“We haven’t submerged another three thousand meters yet,” Nami spoke up. “It’s can’t be Fishman Island yet.”

Franky started doing something with his “flashlight nipples,” only causing Maria to roll her eyes and Usopp to bark at him for it.

The light started to clear up and—

“ANGLER FISH!” Maria yelled at the top of her lungs. “I _told_ you!”

Usopp and Chopper started screaming.

A Coup de Burst went off right before the monster could shut its mouth and swallow them whole.

“We’d better find a way to get away from this thing or else we’re fish food,” Maria muttered. She pulled out the same device she’d summoned Chichi with before, clearly considering the idea of summoning another ally.

Then something else large and dark came up in front of _Sunny’s_ floodlights, causing her to pause as the others stared up in shock.

“What is it this time?!” Franky demanded.

“I-is it a human?” Nami asked.

Maria frowned up at the large, humanoid figure. “No way is _that_ human. Not completely.”

“A monster from the sea that looks like a man!” Usopp yelped. “It’s a Sea Bonze!”

The large, humanoid, hairy creature started to pull back a fist, causing Chopper to start screaming. “He’s gonna capsize the ship!”

The fist came down, Maria prepared to call on an ally –

And the fist hit the giant angler fish instead.

Maria blinked in surprise as the others responded in their own way.

“Hey, Ankoro! You can’t do that!” the Sea Bonze scolded. “Don’t eat ships! How many times do I have to tell you? Captain Vander Decken-sama won’t like this!”

Maria blinked. “Vander Decken?”

“D-did he just help us?” Nami asked, looking frazzled.

“Let’s go!” Usopp hissed. “We have to get away anyway! He is a monster too!”

Before anyone could move in order to get the ship moving again, something started to move into the light given off by the angler fish’s lure. Maria’s eyes gradually became wider as most of the others reacted with cries of fear and terror.

As soon as she saw the words on the sail of the ship, she groaned.

“Who the scrap decided they wanted to play a Davy Jones joke?” Maria demanded as the large ship started to approach them, “Flying Dutchman” clear on its torn sail. “I swear to Primus, if I hear anything about being sent to a deep sea locker, I’m gonna punch something!”

Something was whispered in the water; it sounded like the rasping voices of spirits that had yet to pass onto their proper resting place. Moanings about dead men in places where crows don’t fly and no need for jewels – and the voice was only steadily getting louder.

_“Look for it! Look for it! Sunken treasures are mine!”_

While Usopp, Chopper, Nami, and Brook looked more and more terrified, Maria looked more and more annoyed and slightly unnerved.

_“I am the richest person in the world – Captain Vander Decken!”_

“A ghost ship?!” Brook yelled in terror.

“You shouldn’t be scared!” Usopp barked, slapping the skeleton and sending him spinning. “We thought _your_ ship was a ghost ship, remember?!”

“Salt works to banish spirits as well as zombies and we’re floating in _salt water,”_ Maria said pointedly. “This is just someone’s idea of a _very sick joke._ ”

Robin hummed at that, inclining her head slightly.

“B-b-but look at that sail!” Brook pointed at the ship. “The infamous _Flying Dutchman!_ It shouldn’t exist in the real world!”

“Sick joke,” Maria repeated, raising her voice.

“Several hundred years ago, the captain of the pirate ship suddenly lost his mind and killed all his crew by throwing them into troubled waters one by one! And he even cursed the gods! The name of the captain _was_ Vander Decken – and the ship _was_ the _Flying Dutchman!”_

 _Now_ Maria was starting to look uneasy. “I’m more familiar with calling him Davy Jones. Guess some things are a bit different around here….”

“The gods cursed him to wander forever under constant torture, and his ship is right in front of us _right now!”_ Brook pointed at the sunken, possibly haunted wreck approaching them.

Usopp and Chopper started running around screaming at the tops of their lungs.

“Calm down!” Franky barked. “We thought Brook’s ship was a ghost ship but it wasn’t. What we found on that ship was nothing special – just this funny skeleton!”

Brook laughed. “Franky-san is harsh! And 30 degrees is hard!” He leaned against the cyborg suddenly.

Maria rolled her eyes at their antics.

“You’re right!” Nami spoke up quickly. “Ghost ships aren’t something that you see often.”

“We just saw the Kraken which was believed to be an imaginary monster, so it’s not that surprising to see a ghost ship,” Robin commented.

“Again, I think it’s just some guy playing a sick joke on those of us who are coming through here to Fishman Island,” Maria said flatly. A dark grin started crossing her face. “I could bring in Lugia or Kyogre and see what these guys think of them then.”

Chopper, Usopp, and Nami all started crying in terror at the thought of it being a real ghost ship regardless of Maria’s comments.

“Robin, you can’t entertain yourself by making them upset,” Franky said flatly.

Robin merely smiled slightly in response as Usopp and Chopper hugged each other, crying out for the missing crew members.

“Shut up! We have to get through this by ourselves!” Franky snapped.

Maria held up the same device she’d used to summon the Lanturn earlier. “Or we can give _them_ a scare and see how _they_ like it!” She started to press down on the red and white sphere-button in order to call on one of her allies.

“Maria, wait.”

Maria lifted her finger and looked over at Nami with a frown. “What?”

“The water’s been gradually getting warmer in this area for a while now – summoning one of your friends might not be the best idea if your last one disappeared when it got too warm.”

Maria paused at that, considering. “There _is_ something unusually warm about the area now…” Her eyes widened sharply. “We have to move _now._ ”

 _“Ankoro! Wadastumi! We can’t seize their treasure if you eat the ship, so knock it down!”_ rasped a voice from the ship.

“I got it!” the Sea Bonze replied, bringing a fist up and glaring down at the ship.

Usopp yelped. “Oh no, the Sea Bonze is—“

“He’s our enemy after all!” Chopper squealed.

“Franky, use the Coup de Burst!” Nami ordered.

“I can’t! The fuel has run out! I have to fill up the cola in the energy room!”

The fist started coming down, but the ship barely managed to avoid the hit.

“We don’t have time!” Nami yelled.

“I’m going to get—“

A familiar tentacle slammed into Wadastumi, sending the Sea Bonze flying back and causing Maria to blink in surprise as she cut herself off.

 _Sunny_ drifted closer to the source of the tentacle, causing Usopp, Chopper, and Nami to stare in terror.

“Kraken!” Usopp screamed.

The sea monster didn’t even spare a glance at the ship. As soon as Wadatsumi started to get back up from being hit, Kraken started slamming the Sea Bonze repeatedly with all of his tentacles.

Maria’s eyebrows rose. “Did we just find a momentary ally? Because it looks like this guy hates that one.”

“All right, that enough. Stop!”

Maria’s eyes widened at the familiar voice, and a grin quickly spread across her face. “Or that happened.”

Kraken pulled back from the Sea Bonze, leaving him to fall to the sea floor.

“Good job.”

The creature started rubbing the back of its head in a pleased manner.

Maria started snickering as the others stared at the sight in awe. “I figured that was gonna happen.”

“Heeeeey!” came the call of a certain familiar captain as his bubble approached the ship.

“Luffy! Zoro! Sanji!” Usopp called in relief.

“I’m glad you’re all alive!” Chopper cried.

“What are you all doing?!” Nami called.

“Nami-swan! Robin-chwan! Maria-swan!”

Maria frowned at Sanji’s call. “What the…are they all stuck in the same bubble? How’d that happen?”

“We’ve been looking for you guys!” Luffy called.

Sanji had a nosebleed as he got closer to the ship, causing Maria’s smirk to drop and Chopper to start panicking about Sanji’s recovery from whatever had happened in the last two years.

The one bubble quickly joined up with them as Kraken happily settled _Sunny_ on his back.

“Well, Sanji’s bubble and mine popped, so we got in Zoro’s,” Luffy explained as they approached. He laughed as their bubble merged with the coating of the ship and popped, letting them in. “I thought I was gonna die!”

“Don’t make us worry!” Nami scolded.

“Really, guys, I know you can handle things without us, but did you really have to give us a heart attack in the process?” Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You all have an amazing ability to survive,” Franky commented as Brook started singing.

Luffy flopped onto the deck, laughing. “Ahh, so much room! There’s no place like home.”

“So, you _really_ tamed the monster octopus?” Nami asked.

“I knew you could do it,” Maria said with a grin, getting a look from Nami.

“Are we going to use the Kraken?” Robin asked, amused.

“Yeah, I’m gonna use him like experienced people do!” Luffy sat up and threw his fists in the air. “Right, Surume?”

“That’s a squid snack, not a name for a Kraken!”

Maria snorted at Usopp’s response. “He’s Luffy’s, Luffy can name him what he wants to. Why do you think my Lanturn is named Chichi?”

“Eh?” Zoro looked over. “A what?”

“Draw the _Sunny,_ Surume!” Luffy called.

Surume started moving forward, holding onto the ship with two of his tentacles and keeping _Sunny_ held above his head.

“Well, instead of making him draw the ship, we have to make sure that he’s not gonna smash it up,” Usopp said worriedly.

“I don’t think we’re going to—“

A rumbling crash went off behind them, cutting Maria off. She paled suddenly, as did Nami.

“What is it?” Luffy asked.

“Move, move, move!” Maria yelped.

“The undersea volcano is going to erupt!” Nami added.

“What?!” Usopp and Chopper yelped.

“We’re too close to it!” Franky exclaimed.

The haunted ship, the Sea Bonze, and the giant angler fish took off, Wadatsumi pulling the ship along behind him like a balloon.

“Luffy, tell your kraken to get away from here now!” Nami ordered.

“Wait!” Maria held up a hand as the sea floor started to go past them. “He’s already moving! Surume knows what’s coming just as we do and he definitely doesn’t want to get caught up in it!”

“He runs terribly,” Robin commented shortly.

“Don’t say that – that’s how horrifying the eruption is!” Franky responded.

“Yeah.” Maria nodded in agreement. “I mean, _I_ can handle heat like this on a regular basis, but I don’t think even I could survive an explosion the size of what’s about to go off back there!”

“But I wanna see the eruption!” Luffy exclaimed as Sanji cooed over pictures of Nami, Robin, and Maria while Zoro looked on with utter disdain.

“We’ll be able to see it from here,” Maria replied as Usopp and Chopper ran up to the front of the ship – as though the distance would help them survive. “Any closer and we would—“

A pillar of lava shot up into the dark salt water, lighting the area in a dark red light as the ocean floor shook. Surume nearly lost his footing, but managed to keep going, quickening his pace.

Maria gripped the railing as everyone fell about the deck, either screaming in panic or laughing, in Luffy’s case.

“Lava’s flowing along to the sea floor!” Nami yelled. “The temperature is soaring!”

“Feels like I’m in boiling water!” Usopp yelped. “I’m gonna be cooked!”

Maria did not look the one bit affected, not even sweating. “Hang on! I’m gonna see if I can absorb heat the same way I can absorb fire – if I can release heat, the reverse should work too!” She sat down on the deck, then closed her eyes and focused as the others started yelling at Surume to move faster. Gradually, the temperature inside the bubble started to go down a little – but then it went back up to being extremely hot.

“Because of the difference in temperatures, the sea current’s starting to swirl!” Nami called out.

Sanji started to turn to ask Nami something, only to nosebleed again and get scolded by Chopper.

“Keep going straight, then go down into that trench!” Nami ordered.

“What?!” Chopper squealed as Maria opened an eye.

“That’s the last three thousand-meter drop?” Maria asked.

“What?! Down there?!” Usopp yelped. “That’s a sheer cliff! You’ve got to be kidding!”

“It’s darker than dark!” Chopper cried.

“Are you sure that Fishman Island is in there?” the two of them asked together.

“Maria, don’t suck in more heat than you already have – the difference in temperature could cause the bubble to pop!”

Maria sighed and Nami’s order and opened her eyes as the heat jumped back up again. “All right – not like I was doing much about it anyway.”

Usopp and Chopper kept screaming in panic, looking between the lava flow behind them and the trench coming up ahead of them.

“Luffy! The darkness is a bottomless pit that connects to hell!” Usopp wailed.

“Do you want to stay up here with the lava?” Maria shot back, which only caused Usopp to screech loudly. “Trust Nami, Usopp! She knows what she’s doing!”

“Jump in, Surume!” Luffy called.

Surume reached the edge of the trench and leapt out into the abyss, falling town into deeper darkness.

Behind them, the volcano went off _again._

“What is that?! Right above us!” Franky looked up, causing Maria to do the same.

“Debris from the eruption!” Maria’s eyes widened sharply. “Scrap, if that hits us—“

“Not even the _Sunny_ would be able to stand a hit from one of those!” Usopp agreed.

“Get away, Surume!” Nami cried.

Surume quickly swam out of the way of the falling boulders.

“I’m gonna go out and cut them!” Zoro barked. “Luffy, hold onto my leg!”

“Okay!”

Robin quickly intervened, causing a hand to sprout and stop Zoro from drawing his sword – and then others sprouted and kept him from moving off the ship. “Zoro, no!”

“Hey, let me go!”

“Why are you stopping him, Robin?!” Luffy frowned.

“We’re eight thousand meters deep now! If you go out, you’ll be crushed by the water pressure!”

“I was WONDERING when someone was gonna bring that up!” Maria exclaimed.

“Then what should we do?!” Zoro demanded.

“We need to buy some time to get away from the cliff!” Nami responded.

“On it!” Maria rushed to the opposite side of the deck, PokeDex in hand.

“Maria—“

Before Robin could grab the Reploid, she’d slipped through the bubble and out into the crushing water pressure.

Moments later, a large flash went off in the dark ocean water, hiding Maria from view.


	8. Another Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the crossover-ish bits again. If you think the Lanturn a few chapters ago was weird, well...Maria's just summoned a Legendary.
> 
> And for the record -- I know that the PokeDex and the anime contradict each other on a number of things, so I'm just ignoring those. The Legendary's bigger than Sunny but smaller than Surume. If that makes any sense.

“Maria!” Usopp screamed as the others stared in shock at the flash that was surrounding her form. “Wh-wh-why did she just run out here like that?! She’s—“

_“I’m just fine!”_

The pirates turned sharply as something large and white flew through the water and over the ship. The loud cry it made sounded more like a large bird’s call and echoed through the water—

And the rocks and shifting mud hit an invisible barrier.

_“Whoo! Thanks, Lugia!”_

The bird-like call came again – softer this time, but still loud to the others – and the avalanche of rocks and mud moved suddenly up against the wall opposite the side of the trench Surume was swimming towards. Then the creature started drifting downward, as though it was flying sideways.

And sitting on the creature’s back in an air bubble, grinning widely like she was having the time of her life, was Maria.

“Whoa!” Luffy ran up to the bubble. “Where’d you get that monster?!”

“Lugia’s a friend!” Maria called back as the creature turned its head to look at Luffy. “He’s one of a kind, too – you’re not gonna find anyone else like him in the sea!”

Lugia huffed at Luffy, then nodded his head in greeting at the people on the ship as they stared in Maria in jaw-dropping shock.

“Lucky!” Luffy pouted. “I wanna find a Lugia, too!”

“I haven’t made friends with anyone like Surume,” Maria pointed out. “So you’re definitely lucky there!”

“How is it that you stopped the avalanche?” Robin asked. “I didn’t see either of you do anything.”

“Luigia’s psychic,” Maria said simply. “He made an invisible barrier that kept it from hitting us so that Surume could get away.”

A pleased rumble came from Lugia.

“That’s so cool!” Chopper exclaimed.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Usopp agreed. “First that little angler fish, now this? Maria, just how many friends do you have?”

“Over several hundred.”

“Ehhhh?!”

Maria laughed at Usopp’s response. “Hey, now. I probably won’t bring in _everyone,_ but I do have a lot of friends who are willing to help. I’ll only call them in as a last resort like with this, though – it wouldn’t be all that fun if they made our adventure easier, right Luffy?”

“Right!” Luffy nodded in agreement. “But I wanna meet your friends!”

Maria simply laughed again and rubbed the back of her head, but the expression on her face suggested that she was nervous.

“So thanks, Lugia!”

Lugia huffed and nodded.

“And thanks to Surume too!” Usopp added. “He got us out of the line of fire really fast! Surume! Surume! Surume!”

Usopp quickly led the crew in a chant of Surume’s name, Maria joining in and chanting along with the others.

The group was collectively distracted _enough_ that none of them noticed the stray boulder that hit Surume in the head, sending him and the ship falling down into the darkness and leaving Maria and Lugia still moving along at a leisurely pace behind them.

**Maria’s POV**

_“Now that we have the chance, Maria – why haven’t you called us into the fray in the other dimensions you’ve visited?”_

I winced at Lugia’s telepathic question. Thankfully, he hadn’t said anything verbally while Luffy and the others had been present – I don’t know _how_ they would have responded if they knew that creatures were capable of things like that.

“I never had the chance to before,” I replied. “Every opportunity that came up, someone else was already doing something to take care of the problem.” I paused. “That, and…I didn’t really want to bring in people that didn’t exactly belong in the dimensions I was in.”

If any of this doesn’t make any sense to you, I’ll explain it – eventually. Just….

I guess I could say for now that there’s more to what I remembered than any one of us could have thought before I set foot on Rocket Man in Water 7. A _lot_ more.

And I didn’t want to let the others know about it yet because it _could_ mean that everyone could end up in danger as a result of it.

 _“Then why call on us now when it might cause trouble here?”_ Lugia pressed. _“Has something changed your mind?”_

I didn’t answer for a moment.

_“Maria.”_

I sighed. “I had a talk with someone. Someone who’s from around here – and…some things may end up happening in the future because I’m here. Getting rumors and the word out about who and what I am may cause people to….” I trailed off. “Well, it’s either I get a bigger bounty as a pirate or they completely drop it off the map, which I’m hoping _not,_ because otherwise my reputation as a member of the Straw Hat crew might get to be more than a bit weird.”

Lugia said nothing.

“What do you want me to say? That I miss you guys? Because I do – it’s just—“

_“You don’t want to give people more of a reason to come after you than you already have.”_

I nodded. “Yeah. So, uh…can we catch up to Luffy and the others now? I know you’ve been holding back.”

Lugia made a chuckling noise. _“Of course.”_

The following burst of speed from the large Pokémon was something that I did and didn’t expect; I leaned forward flat across Lugia’s back and held on tightly as the darkness of the trench passed by—

And we suddenly emerged in a realm of light.

It took me a moment to adjust to the sudden brightness of the place, but it didn’t take as long as it would have if I’d been human.

“Whoa….”

 _“Light on the sea floor? This world truly is strange.”_ Lugia moved forward slowly, flapping his wings in languid strokes. _“Ships that travel underwater in bubbles, large creatures that are not Pokémon—“_ He nodded to a nearby large, serpentine creature with white and black stripes that swam passed us. It eyed us for a moment, then left us alone.

I guess Lugia looks weird enough that the local fish are gonna leave him alone.

“Oi! Maria! Lugia!”

Lugia and I turned our heads at the sound of Luffy’s voice, and I saw Surume carrying _Sunny_ a short distance from us. Surume waved a tentacle at us, and we turned and approached the kraken.

“Glad to see you got down safely!” Luffy said cheerily.

“Same!” I chirped in reply. “Where do you think the light’s coming from?”

“I don’t know, but Fishman Island’s over there!”

I followed Luffy’s pointing as Surume and Lugia kept moving in a certain direction, and my eyes widened in surprise when I caught sight of the huge bubble that was sitting right in front of us.

“Wow….”

“That has to be a strong bubble,” Lugia said verbally. To anyone else it sounded like a bird bellowing, if that was possible. “And only half-full of water? How strange.”

“Well, people have to come down here to get over to the other side of the world, since we have to go under a mountain range, so I guess it would make sense that there would be air,” I commented. Lugia huffed in response. “I think I see a gate up there, but what are the people going to think when we pop in…?”

I could vaguely hear Sanji and Brook chanting about mermaids on the deck of the ship as they danced around, causing me to snort at them both. Chopper and Usopp were probably going to be worried about—

Lugia growled suddenly, turning his head away from Fishman Island. I followed his gaze and instantly sat up straighter, gripping my right fist tightly.

“Hey, what’s that?!” Franky yelled.

“We’ve got company!” I replied, frowning at the large group of sea monsters that was now gathering up in front of us. “Looks like Earth-based creatures turned into Sea Kings.”

“The sea monsters here?” Lugia growled. If he heard other members of my crew screaming, he didn’t comment on it.

“Mhm. A little Pressure should send them on their way, but—“

“Someone’s riding them!” Luffy called from the _Sunny._

“Why are you obeying such fools as humans, Kraken?” asked a figure sitting on the back of a giraffe-like Sea King.

Surume looked terrified.

“How—“

“Fishmen,” I muttered to Lugia. “There are people in this dimension who can live underwater – they’re humans who are half Water-Type. And neither they nor the humans get along for the most part – some do, but not all.”

Surume started to back up slowly, looking shaken. He was about to bolt, but Lugia moved in between him and the fishman riders and gave a warning cry, flaring his wings out.

“What’s this? A new monster to tame – and with a human on its back!” I could get a better view of the fishman on the giraffe Sea King now – how fitting; he looked like a giraffe himself, yellow-skinned and long-necked as he was. “I haven’t seen a Sea King like this one before.”

There were two others with this guy, too – a guy with an octopus lower half and another guy with a ton of frills.

“The only sea creature I call royalty is Manaphy,” Lugia growled in reply.

“Hang on,” I spoke up. “We don’t want to reveal all our cards at once.”

“Surume! Come back!”

I looked back, my eyes widening sharply when I saw that the others were – presently – in a bit of a panic as the ship was sent spinning down to the sea floor as Surume took off. They skidded to a halt a short distance from the bubble, but nowhere close enough to get in through the gate.

And leaving us right in the middle of all six of the sea monsters – with their one rider. My guess was more like animal trainer.

“You guys are the Straw Hats, aren’t you?” the fishman called over at us.

“Who are you?” Luffy demanded. “How do you know about us?”

“I know you all very well,” the fishman replied calmly. “You are the ones who foiled the plans of the Arlong Pirates.”

Now _I_ was the one growling.

“That act was easy enough to understand. But then you stood up for Hachi-san, the former officer of the Arlong Pirates two years ago, and knocked one of the hateful Celestial Dragons out! Just like Fisher Tiger, the hero of Fishman Island who we respect.” The long-necked fishman laughed. “It’s hard to decide what I should do with you. So, tell me. Are you guys our enemies or not? I give you an option. Do you wanna enlist under our banner – the new Fishman pirates? Or do you refuse?”

 _“Steady,”_ Lugia said softly at the back of my mind as I leaned forward, gritting my teeth.

“If you refuse, we’ll sink you,” the fishman added casually.

“What did you say?” Luffy called back.

Activity started happening down on the ship – the sails pulled up suddenly as Usopp disappeared below deck.

“On my signal,” I muttered. “We have to give them a chance to get out of here. Then we’ll follow while these guys have to deal with whatever we do.”

Lugia huffed quietly and gave the slightest of nods.

“So, do you wanna work under us, Straw Hat Luffy?” the fishman called again. “We’ll let you keep that pet that Fire Storm is riding if you do.”

I felt Lugia’s body rumble beneath me – he was getting ready to unleash an attack, and this guy was stepping on all the wrong buttons today.

There was a moment of silence, then—

“No way, _stupid!”_

I grinned. “That’s my captain.”

“You refused…the offer to join the New Fishman Pirates! Then you guys are the fishmen’s enemy! Just sinful human beings!”

Well, not _all_ of us are human. But the fishmen didn’t need to know that yet.

“Why should we work under you?!” Luffy called back.

“It’s a shame. Then we can’t let you pass through here,” the fishman said casually. “This is where we sink you!”

“NOW!” I roared.

Lugia let out a roar as well – but when he opened his mouth, it wasn’t just sound that came out.

A strong current of water, forced into a swirling, tight shape, flew out of Lugia’s mouth and slammed into the face of the lion Sea King, sending him flying back into his neighbor the elephant. The impact sent them both spinning away.

“What?!”

“Coup de Burst!”

Franky’s yell only came seconds before the ship blasted between Lugia and I and the Sea Kings, catching the fishmen by surprise at _Sunny’s_ speed.

“Ha!” I fist pumped in triumph. “Now to make sure these guys don’t follow us so easily!”

“What’s wrong with that ship?!” the fishman demanded.

“Absolutely nothing!” I shot back. “Lugia, I know you’ve been holding back! Make sure these guys don’t look at us twice!”

Lugia roared again, and this time when he opened his mouth, the water started churning around a sphere of glowing air he’d been holding in.

The resulting blast of energy was strong enough and wide enough to hit the giraffe and the gorilla next to it, sending the two of them flying back and away from the bubble and leaving the bears behind.

Lugia turned to look at the remaining Sea Kings and snarled loudly. They looked at each other before fleeing as fast as their fins could take them.

“Ha!” I grinned in triumph. “Okay; let’s head up after the _Sunny_ and—“

I cut myself off, then frowned. Then I facepalmed. _“_ Scraaap! I can’t see them anymore – I know they got up to the bubble, but I didn’t see if they went through the main gate or not!”

_“Calm yourself; if your crewmates are as resilient as you have made them out to be, then they will be all right. For now, let us go through the main entrance – the beings here would no doubt have noticed my presence by now, and going through there would be the most wise decision.”_

I nodded at Lugia’s comment. “Yeah. No avoiding letting the rest of the world know that I can find friends and bring them from the strangest of places, huh?” I grinned sheepishly.

Lugia snorted in agreement, then started moving up towards the main gate.

When we got to the main gate, the fishmen who were standing guard there looked like they were about to stick Lugia through with their weapons rather than let him in.

“Hey! Get back, wild beast!” one of them barked, waving his spear in his direction.

“Hey!” I called back. “Don’t kabob Lugia, he’s friendly!”

The two fishmen looked up and stiffened when they saw that I was sitting on Lugia’s back, hands on my hips as I looked down at them disapprovingly.

“…who are you?” one of them asked.

“Fire Storm Maria of the Straw Hat Pirates,” I replied. “This is Lugia. He’s a friend of mine.”

Lugia bowed his head in greeting to the two fishmen guards, who stared at him with blank expressions.

“The rest of the crew went on ahead through the bubble instead of the main gate,” I explained. “Do you think you can let me through? Lugia’s gonna be going back to where he came from after I pass through; you won’t be getting any trouble from him, I promise.”

“How can we trust the word of a—“

The second guard elbowed the first. “Did you see what that thing did to the Fishman District’s pets? I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side!” He looked up at me and nodded quickly. “O-only if the creature leaves after you get to the other side of the gate.”

“That won’t be a problem,” I replied in confidence.

The two fishmen quickly went to work, and they opened a small breach in the bubble using the gate that was built into it – it almost looked like an airlock or something similar.

And Lugia actually managed to fit inside it quite comfortably – they must’ve had ships come through that were much larger than him before.

As soon as we got into the air lock between the two gates, I looked back at the two guards and grinned and gave a thumbs-up from where I was sitting at the base of Lugia’s neck.

“I-it’s against regulation—“

“The bubble can handle it,” hissed the guard at the other. “At least the sea monster will be going away as soon as Fire Storm gets to the island!”

“O-oh! Right!”

The bubble sealed shut behind us, nearly clipping Lugia’s tail and causing him to curl it against his body with an annoyed grumble.

“Not much longer now, I hope,” I commented.

The bubble gate in front of us started to open then, the pressure lightening and some of the water draining out – just enough that I knew I wouldn’t be needing the Dive bubble, and even if I technically did I wouldn’t have to worry about the pressure so much.

“Okay. Here we go.”

Lugia let out a loud cry and took off with a flap of his wings, and we rocketed out of the air lock—

And into the open expanse of Fishman Island.


	9. Prophecies from Palms

**Maria’s POV**

We flew – well, more like glided –  straight towards the docks that connected to the mainland. Oddly enough, there weren’t very many human ships docked there from what I could see, but I chalked that up to the fact that traveling underwater was dangerous business and that not very many people could have made it here easily.

Then again, those guys blocking the way in _had_ talked about sinking our ship. I was going to have to talk to them about that one.

There was also a flag flying at the harbor – a skull with a pink afro behind, and a sun and a tree to either side.

When we got to the dock and landed, we were met with a group of fishmen wearing the same armor that the guys at the gate had been wearing.

“You guys the ones who keep order around here?” I guessed as my hoverboard attached to my back.

One of the fishmen nodded. “We are Neptune’s army. You are Fire Storm Maria?” He eyed Lugia nervously as the Pokémon stood on the dock behind me.

“I am.”

“How did you tame a Sea King like this, that can fire such powerful attacks by controlling water?”

“Lugia is a friend.” I shrugged. “And there are things that I can do that most people can’t.”

Lugia huffed at my statement.

“He’s gonna be heading back in a bit, anyway. He was just my ride here.”

“Will you be bringing it – er, _him_ – back?”

I shook my head. “Not unless I need him, which I doubt will happen while I’m here on your island. I don’t want to disturb the peace here as much as it probably has been already.” I nodded back to the gate. “There were a number of fishmen waiting for us out there – something about the New Fishmen Pirates and getting us to join them. Luffy refused, and we got separated while Lugia handled giving us time to get away from them.”

The fishmen exchanged looks at that.

“We’ll keep an eye out for them,” one of the guards said. “For now, you promise that you aren’t going to cause any trouble?”

I nodded. “I don’t intend to be trouble here.”

To prove my point, I shifted out of my armor and back into my normal clothes before spreading my hands, showing that I was weaponless.

The fishmen considered that for a moment, then nodded.

“We’ve heard of how you helped Jimbei in the War of the Best,” one of the fishmen said. “So we’ll let this one slide. But King Neptune will probably wish to see you.”

“Can I have some time to try and find my crewmates?”

“Well, they entered illegally, so we will be searching for them as well.” The fishman’s eyes narrowed. “Technically, you did as well, if only because of the creature you arrived on.” He looked up at Lugia, who eyed the fishmen with a curious look.

Lugia brought his head down and nudged me gently. “I must return. If you have need of me, I will be waiting for your call.”

I nodded, then scratched the side of Lugia’s head. “Thanks, buddy.”

Lugia huffed, then vanished in a flash of light that caused the fishmen in front of me to stiffen in surprise and alarm – they probably hadn’t seen a creature just disappear into thin air like that before.

So I gave them something to distract themselves with.

“Is there an entrance fee I have to pay?”

The fishman – after a moment to recover his composure – filled me in on the requirements that were usually asked of pirates – promises of no combat in places with civilians, a small fee for coming in through the main entrance, the usual sorts of things I was expecting.

The guards at the docks accepted what they needed from me and let me through into the town itself.

Fishman Island’s town looked pretty incredible, honestly. It’s so cool that the people here were able to live in the air and in the water this far below the surface.

But I couldn’t help but feel like there was something else in the air, too. The people here – fishmen, fishwomen, and merfolk of both genders flying around with bubble floaties around their waists to keep them moving – all looked at me with unusually grim expressions, and made it a point to avoid me.

I chalked it up to the fact that I looked human myself, but that was just as worrysome as the fact that they were avoiding me because of my reputation as a pirate – perhaps even more so, in fact.

But, still…I couldn’t shake off the chill that ran up my spine every time one of them looked at me.

Did the hatred between humans and fishmen really run that deep here? It was definitely something to keep in mind.

Especially since I was going to be sticking around for however long it took for me to find my crewmates and the _Sunny_ on top of that.

“You look a little lost.”

“Hm?” I turned my head at the voice and blinked at the large building I was moving past.

A large mermaid with the lower half of a shark was standing -- probably more like kneeling, if she was human – in the entrance of the larger building. It looked like I’d come around behind somewhere and this was the back entrance.

“Yeah, I guess I kinda am.” I rubbed the back of my head, feeling somewhat sheepish. “I’m trying to find my friends – the Straw Hat crew? We got separated when we were entering the island and I don’t know where they all ended up.”

“Ah.” The woman considered that, then blew bubbles out of the pipe she held. “I’d heard that you all had entered illegally – except for one who came into the bubble on the back of a monster. I assume that was you, then?”

I nodded, getting a lopsided grin. “Yeah. Lugia really gave them a surprise at the entrance. I’m Maria, by the way.”

“Sharley,” the woman introduced herself. Well, that explained the name that was up over the door. “It is a pleasure to meet a human who is capable of taming creatures that we have only heard of in fictional tales.”

That statement….

“Pokémon are fictional creatures here?” I asked. Did this shark mermaid know something about who I was and what it was that I was capable of?

“Indeed. So it intrigues me that you were able to bring such a creature out of the depths and bring him to life.” Sharley motioned for me to come inside. “Please, come in. It wouldn’t be wise of me to treat such a guest with hospitality.”

I blinked at that, raising an eyebrow. “You’re the first person here who’s thought of inviting me in anywhere. Considering the welcome we received outside your island’s gates, I hope you won’t see it as impolite if I question why you’re deciding to show me any form of kindness.”

“I like pirates,” Sharley replied amiably. “And I know your secret, World Jumper.”

I stiffened as soon as she said the title.

I had told _no one_ on this island who I was. I hadn’t even told my fellow _crewmates._

Others I’d met over the last two years, on the other hand….

I nodded, then moved past Sharley and into a large sitting room, with a large cushion that was clearly big enough for Sharley to sit on comfortably.

I noticed what looked like a glass sphere sitting on a cushion in a clam shell nearby and it clicked.

“You’re psychic.” I turned and looked at Sharley as she closed the door behind me and hopped over to a little kitchen and started pouring tea. “That’s how you know what I am. You saw me coming.”

“Many years ago, yes.” Sharley looked over at me and flicked her shark-fin tail at me in a slow manner. “I didn’t know your importance at the time, but now, with that grand entrance of yours…” She smiled, showing some sharp teeth – she wasn’t just a shark in the fact that she had the tail of one, no way. “You are going to shake up this world with just your presence alone when word spreads of who you are and where you have come from, as well as what you have done.”

“Considering that I’m a part of the Straw Hats, I don’t doubt it,” I replied. Sharley motioned for me to sit down at a table, and I did so. “So, is that your usual job or—“

“No, no. I own the Mermaid Café. My psychic abilities aren’t utilized very often anymore. Sometimes it’s better not to know the future.”

“You don’t need it as much as what you’re getting there, then.” I nodded as Sharley brought over a cup of tea. “That makes sense. But do people still come to you for their fortunes?”

“Some. It’s mostly little things, like palm-reading, but I haven’t had any need to use the crystal ball you saw when you entered. That is for grand prophecies involving people, but I’ve put that part of my practice behind me. Everything I do is only for trivialities that most people search people with my gift out for.”

I considered that as Sharley sat down across from me and sipped her tea. I took a sip of it and blinked in surprise – it tasted like the sea smelled and felt. I should have expected that, considering what sort of place we were in, but…

“Wow, this is good tea,” I commented. “I mean, I know what the sea smells and tastes like, but this takes it to a whole new level.”

“It’s my own personal blend,” Sharley replied with an easy-going smile. “Would you like the recipe, for when you are missing the sea?”

“If you’re willing to share.”

“I wouldn’t offer unless I was. And…one other thing.” Sharley put down her tea and looked at me curiously. “I haven’t had the opportunity to read the palm of someone such as yourself before, and I find myself curious as to what the hands of a World Jumper look like.”

I blinked in surprise at that. “Wha – really? Uh…I don’t know if you’ll be able to pick anything up off mine because I’m not human, but—“

“Whether or not you are who you were at birth has nothing to do with the act of palm reading,” Sharley replied. “It has more to do with the power that lies in your hands, and I am curious as to what I might find on the hands of a World Jumper. Now, which would you consider to be your dominant hand?”

I put my right hand forward without question, palm up. Sharley took it in hers – her grip was strong as she poked and prodded at my palm, looking it over intently.

My face twitched on occasion when she poked in certain spots, but other than that, I didn’t pull away, and I didn’t give any other sign that certain areas tickled or not.

“You have some unresolved feelings about a moment in your past,” Sharley commented finally. “They are going to have to be resolved, I think.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m not holding my feelings back anymore. I’m not who I was then.”

“But you are still holding back certain emotions. I would suggest that you find yourself a private place with friends nearby when you have the chance to, or else everything will come crashing down in the least expected ways.”

I glanced away from her at that, and she looked up at me before looking back down at my palm.

“Your life line is far longer than any being I’ve seen,” Sharley said. “Both human and fishman.”

“I know,” I said quietly. “I’m older than one of my brothers, but both of them look older than me. Can you tell how long—“

“I’m afraid that isn’t quite certain from what I can see here. If I gave you an exact number, what would you do with it?” Sharley looked at me curiously.

I paused to consider that, and she took it as enough of an answer before she continued.

“You have seen a lot, judging from how you’ve changed yourself, but I believe that you will be seeing far more – both unfamiliar and familiar.” Sharley paused. “There is something you seek. You will find it.”

My mind instantly shot to Airam. That purple-themed double of mine that I’d last seen at Marineford – who was also someone else at the exact same time.

Someone who had a crew that dearly missed her.

“Is there anything else you see?” I asked.

Sharley frowned, tilted her head slightly, then shook her head. “No; that’s all I see. Palm-reading only works for short-distance future-telling. Prophecies would tell me more, but they take much energy, and I haven’t had one since a year before the War of the Best.”

“…I see.” I considered that, then nodded a little. “Even if I knew more about my future, I don’t know if that would be a good thing or not. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the future brings me.” I smiled sheepishly.

Sharley nodded, and released my hand. “Worry not for your crewmembers; I do not doubt they are alive and well. Spend time walking around the city. You will run into them soon enough.”

I nodded, feeling more relaxed. “All right; thanks. Knowing that they’re okay takes a load off my chest – I mean, I know there’s no way they _couldn’t_ be okay, but knowing that we’re going to meet up eventually is a good thing.”

Sharley nodded thoughtfully. “Before you go – you wanted to know about my tea?”

“Yeah!”

Sharley filled me in on what she used for tea and where I could find the ingredients, then sent me on my way with some of her already-mixed tea bags and locations of shops where I could by more if I wanted to have a good supply for a while.

I knew Robin was going to be interested in this, at least.

**Time Break**

I was in the middle of the market of this area of Fishman island when I ran into a group of fishmen armed with tridents on the street.

Uh-oh.

“Uh…hi?” I waved a little, feeling somewhat nervous. “What’s up?”

“Are you Fire Storm Maria of the Straw Hat Pirates?” one of them asked, looking down at me through an opaque black visor.

I nodded cautiously. Whatever was going on, I had to make sure that I wasn’t about to get involved in something drastic.

“The Straw Hats are presently involved in two investigations,” the fishman said grimly. “One, you are accused of kidnapping mermaids.”

My eyes widened sharply at that. “Excuse me?!”

“Two, you are being considered under suspicion as a possible danger because of Madam Sharley’s prevision, so—“

“She told me she wasn’t doing that anymore!” I exclaimed sharply, my voice rising. “And besides, we _saved_ Hachi’s and Camie’s lives two years ago; what would make us change our minds to go _kidnapping_ mermaids anyway?”

Something about this definitely was _not_ adding up; there had to be something else going on that would make them put two and two together to make negative 12 or something.

“That is what we intend to find out,” the fishman replied. “So, if you’ll come into custody with—“

“Yeah right! If there’s something going on, I want to be able to figure it out just as much as you! Let me _help!”_

“No! You humans are dangerous and should be placed in custody until—“

I could tell that I was getting nowhere with these guys. I glared at them disapprovingly, then backflipped as a certain red and orange metal board materialized behind me.

I landed on my hoverboard and frowned at the group. “Look, I know you guys have a job to do, but we don’t kidnap mermaids, and whatever this prophecy-vision thing has involved with us, we won’t be the direct cause of the _start_ of whatever problem Sharley saw. We never are.”

The fishman who had been speaking gritted his teeth. “Get her!”

I shot up on my hoverboard before any one of them could pierce me through with a trident; I did a quick loop in the air before looking down at them.

“Look, I can tell that we’re going to be at a bit of an impasse,” I said, frowning at them critically. “I’m not gonna go with you because innocent until proven guilty, and you don’t want me to do that because you guys automatically think that I’m guilty of it just because I’m human. For all we know, it _could_ be humans kidnapping those mermaids, but they’re _not_ humans from the Straw Hat crew. Besides, I’m not even human anyways, so **buzz off.”**

My voice changed a bit at the end, making it sound more static-y and metallic. The noise caused the fishmen to wince at the sound of it, and I took advantage of that.

Before any one of them could leap up at me or try and bring me down to the ground, I turned and took off for another part of the town.

If I was going to get any answers from anyone, it was gonna be Sharley and that vision of hers.


	10. Words and Actions

**Maria’s POV**

Trying to find and talk to Sharley turned out to be a fruitless endeavor.

When I got to her home, I saw the destructive results of a fight, and her door was locked quite securely from entry.

“Sharley, it’s me!” I called. “The World Jumper? Come on – I’ve gotta talk to you about something!”

Absolutely no answer.

I sighed irritably, then turned around and looked at the carnage that had been left behind in the street. “Well, guess I’ll have to find my answers elsewhere.” I sighed again, then looked around at the few fishmen and merfolk who were standing around in the street, staring at the carnage. “Would any of you be willing to tell me what happened here?”

They exchanged nervous looks at my question; none of them stepped forward.

At least, none of the adults did.

“Madam Sharley said that Straw Hat Luffy was gonna cause the destruction of the island!” a little fishman boy with green scales and fins for ears toddled forward.

“Tom, get back!” his mother cried.

I frowned at that. “Is that exactly what she said?”

“Uh huh!” Tom nodded. “She said that we had to get the Straw Hats off the island as soon as possible!”

“I see. Well, that’s a pretty big problem.” I looked up at the sky – and the ceiling of the bubble beyond it. “Sounds like we’re going to be having some trouble again.” I sighed, then chuckled. “Must be our luck, huh?”

“Our?” Tom repeated.

I nodded, then looked down at Tom and tilted my head to one side in thought. “Say, kiddo, what do you think is making humans not come through here very often?”

“I dunno.” Tom shrugged. “Mom and Dad say it’s a good thing because then I won’t be taken away by one.”

“But then how are pirates getting to the New World? I mean, they have to pass through here in order to get to that part of the Grand Line; it’d make sense that they’d stop in the one place that they’ve heard so much about.”

Tom frowned at that. “Mom and Dad say that they’re too scared to come to the New World, because they’ve heard about how hard it is to come down here.”

“But then what’s the fun in adventuring?” I argued cheerily. “If you don’t get stronger because of every obstacle you face, rather than turn and hide or find them too easy, then what are you going to do with your life?”

Tom actually looked like he was about to answer that, but then his mother – a fishwoman with dark blue scale-like skin – ran up and grabbed her son’s hand.

“We do not speak with humans,” she hissed. “What if she had grabbed you and run off with you?”

“There is always that danger when talking to someone of your species or another one entirely, ma’am,” I replied, causing her to look over at me defensively. “Besides, I’m _not_ human. I’m something else. Sharley knows what I am, and welcomed me into her home with open arms before. I assume that she shut her house up because of the prophecy that she foresaw?”

“Yes.” The fishwoman nodded curtly. “She said that she didn’t want to be disturbed until the Straw Hats left the country.”

“I see.” I frowned. “Is she certain that the Straw Hats are the source of the problem?”

“She said they would cause the destruction of Fishman Island! That means they’re the source of the problem.”

I shook my head. Clearly, these people didn’t know the first-hand accounts of events that had happened surrounding us. “Not according to their track record. From what I’ve heard of first-hand accounts—“

\--Barring my own, of course, but I didn’t want to give these people reason to fear me—

“—they’ve arrived at islands looking for a moment of peace to restock and then move on, only to get caught up in events that were going to take place, but hadn’t had a chance to. It’s like those events were destined to take place at the same time that the Straw Hats were in the area. Take Drum Kingdom for example – the island in the Grand Line where the best human doctors and surgeons are known to come from. They’d thrown their king out recently, but then he came back and demanded they return his castle to him. At the same time, the Straw Hats’ navigator fell ill, and they had to go to that island in order to find a cure. The people of the island could have blamed the Straw Hats for bringing that trouble in with them, but they didn’t.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you know why?”

“Because the evil king was bad guy!” Tom piped up. His mother, who had been pulling him away from me, paused.

“Humans are always the bad guys,” she muttered.

Okay, time to pull out the big guns.

“Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon two years ago to save Hachi and Camie,” I pointed out in a flat tone.

That got some whispers from the others nearby. I could distinctly hear Hachi’s name among them quite a few times.

“Luffy considers them friends, and the Dragons can go kiss his feet when they hit their faces if they like,” I said with a bit of a smirk. “Same goes for me. Anyone who thinks that trafficking of lives is a good thing can take a fireball to the face for all I care; I’m not about to help them just because they think they can kiss up to me and go right back to their old ways.” My smirk dropped. “I’ve heard of too many people who’ve done that to be willing to trust people in that situation quite so easily.”

That got me a few stares.

“Are you a former slave then?” someone asked.

I blinked at the question, then frowned, closing my eyes and considering the thought.

One of the things that I’d remembered over the course of my two years’ training was that, because of what my title was – the title Sharley had called me, the title my crewmates didn’t know me by yet – I was sought after by people who wanted to use me for sinister purposes.

My brow furrowed, and I opened my eyes again. “There have been attempts – twice, by one man, once by a creature, and one…one event that I might say _would_ have been a success at fully breaking me if my brother hadn’t intervened in time.”

Thinking of that event in particular – the destroyed skyscrapers, the creatures that towered over everyone and nearly everything, black and menacing and long-clawed and—

The shudder that hit me from head to foot as the memories hit me made me feel like I’d been suddenly dropped in an ice bath and pulled out into the freezing air, ready to be dunked all over again.

“…let’s just say there was no love lost when we defeated them and sent them back to the darkness they came from,” I said when I managed to pull myself back to the present. “They won’t be taking anyone’s free will ever again. Not while I stand free.”

The fishmen were staring at me with looks of sympathy, confusion, and surprise. I don’t think they were expecting me to say anything like that, much less confirm that humans could be just as cruel to each other as they were to their kind.

Tom slipped his hand out of his mother’s and ran up and hugged me around the waist. I looked down at him in surprise as his mother looked at him in concern.

“I guess you’re not a bad human then, huh?” Tom asked.

“There are good humans and bad humans, just like there are good fishmen and bad fishmen,” I replied. “I’ll leave it up to you to judge for yourself which category I fall under.”

“Well, I think you’re good. Not like those people down in the Fishmen District.”

“Tom!” His mother ran over and grabbed him before pulling him away again. “We don’t talk about the people in the Fishmen District.”

“But they’re bad people, Mom! You said so! Everybody says that the Fishman District is dangerous because of the bad people that live there!”

Bad people, huh? Probably bad people like those New Fishman Pirates that met us at the gate and tried to get us to join up with them.

Still….

“What makes them bad people?” I asked. “Out of curiosity – this trip through here to the New World is letting me learn all sorts of things, and since humans don’t see fishmen civilization unless they come under the sea for a reason, I’m pretty curious.”

Tom’s mom shot me a dark look; she clearly didn’t want me to come anywhere near the two of them. “The people down there can’t afford to live in this part of the kingdom; they’re violent and dangerous people.”

“A hotbed for a bunch of people who don’t like how things are run and want to do something violent about it, I think you mean,” I corrected.

“You – what do you know?!”

“I’ve seen what happens when a civilization falls into civil war,” I replied, my voice becoming grim. “Both sides had their faults to deal with – the government was corrupt with power; the people who were being suppressed were dealing with it in harsh ways that they really shouldn’t have. And not to mention the fact that their war ended up becoming so violent they completely destroyed their homes in the process and had to move the war elsewhere.” I shook my head.

“Humans do that—“

“They weren’t human. And they weren’t fishman, either. They were something else entirely.”

I could tell that she didn’t believe me, but I didn’t give her time to argue that point.

“The point is that bad people can come from anywhere, and whether or not they have the ability to act on those bad thoughts can cause some pretty disastrous consequences. I’m guessing the Fishman District is left pretty well alone, because otherwise there wouldn’t be fishmen wandering about freely threatening pirate crews coming in with death if they didn’t join under their banner for some plan they were concocting. Like they did with my crew. We’re lucky we managed to get up here and away from them, even if most of us did end up popping through illegally.”

“What?!” Tom’s jaw dropped. “There are fishmen doing that?? You gotta tell somebody!”

I shrugged. “Who would believe me? I’m a human—“ Well, not really “—speaking out against your people. Some might consider it a possibility, but then look at me and think that I’m lying for my own personal gain. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Not to mention the fact that I’m a pirate – we don’t exactly get good raps with the local authorities, if you know what I mean.”

The fishmen’s gazes hardened at that while Tom’s eyes widened and a halo of sparkles appeared around his head.

“I knew it!” Tom exclaimed. “You’re the pirate who was with Straw Hat Luffy at the War of the Best, weren’t you? You look just like your wanted poster!”

Uh oh. _That_ got a look of alarm to cross his mother’s face, and I knew that my time as a friendly conversationalist was up.

But I wasn’t about to dash this kid’s hopes to dust just because I wanted to keep face and tell them lies.

“Uhh…yup. Yup, that’s me.” I rubbed the back of my head, looking sheepish.

“You’re Fire Storm Maria!” Tom crowed excitedly. “So cool!”

“We’re going _now,”_ his mother said, sending me a panicked look. She grabbed her son and quickly started pulling him away.

Tom waved at me. “I hope I can ask you stuff later!”

Meanwhile, the other fishmen standing nearby started looking like they were ready to rush me. I heard shouting coming from one of the neighboring streets.

“Get them! We can’t let them escape! They’re going to cause us trouble!”

I turned my head to listen to the sound, then heard the sound of one of the weapons from the nearby knocked-out fishmen getting lifted off the street.

I turned my head sharply, only to find myself nose-to-nose – so to speak – with one of the tridents that had littered the street.

“You’re going to surrender peacefully,” said a dark orange fishman with a hooked nose. “Or I’m going to skewer you through. What’s your choice?”

The people here hadn’t seen me in in my armor. They didn’t know that I wasn’t human, nor did they know what _exactly_ was going to happen if I got a trident through the head.

To be honest, I didn’t think that I would be able to survive one.

I raised my hands slowly and put them behind my head as the trident bumped against my nose in a threatening manner. “Take me where you will.”

The fishman actually looked surprised at my response; he lowered the trident from my face and trained it on my chest instead. “I didn’t think you would surrender that easily. After what we heard about you in Marineford—“

“Marineford was a battle to get my captain’s brother back,” I replied. “Here, the battle is something else, and I doubt it’s one I am going to win if I knock you all in the head and leave you unconscious with concussions in the street.”

“What sort of battle is it, then?”

“One that involves more words than actions, if I find people who are willing to listen.” I shrugged. “I don’t doubt that I’ll be using my actions soon, but not against you. There are others who probably deserve such things far more than anyone else that I’ve run into in this kingdom so far.”

The fishman didn’t quite look like he trusted me, but I’d managed to show enough that I wasn’t going to fight that he relaxed the trident from pointing at my chest. He motioned with it for me to follow him, and I did.

Hopefully, wherever I ended up would let me figure out how my actions would make this situation turn around for the better.


	11. Don't. Stalk. Kids.

**Maria’s POV**

The fishman ended up leading me – tied up with my arms against my sides after he’d dropped the trident – out to an area on the edge of the island, where there was clearly more of a commotion going on, with large numbers of fishmen and merfolk crowding around a group of three familiar figures—

…and a large, pink-haired mermaid with a rather young face. The kind of face you might find on a cute little kid or a teenager who hadn’t quite grown out of her baby fat yet.

Considering how well-endowed she was, I could guess she was the latter.

“Th-they kidnapped the mermaid princess?!” my temporary captor yelped in alarm. “As if the normal mermaids disappearing from the coasts wasn’t bad enough!”

“You think—“ I cut myself off with a groan. “ _Granted,_ I don’t know where everyone else is and Sanji’s a bit of a pervert, but there’s no way any one of us would pull something like this.”

“Shut up,” the fishman hissed back at me. “We’ve caught your crew red-handed; there’s no way that we’re going to let you do whatever you want now.”

I frowned at that. “Save that for when you catch the real person who’s been causing all this trouble.”

Something about the look on my face gave him pause, but didn’t completely shake him off.

“Hey, Coward!” Luffy yelled. “Why did you come out of Shark?!”

I only noticed then that Megalo was lying next to the giant mermaid, looking completely tuckered out. Had he been carrying that giant mermaid _inside_ him?

Primus, the poor thing. Must’ve been Luffy’s idea.

The princess gasped, then started tearing up and crying. “I-I’m sorry! Luffy-sama, please don’t get mad at me!”

“He made Princess-sama cry!” one of the fishmen exclaimed. “What an evil pirate!”

“I feel terrible!” another added. “Princess Shirahoshi-sama!”

My heart went out to the princess – and I couldn’t help but feel annoyed at Luffy for calling her a coward. Clearly, Shirahoshi was _young_ , and this was probably her first time out of the palace – wherever that was – in who knew how long. Of course she was going to be horribly shy to the point of it being mistaken for cowardice.

“Tch.” I shook my head. “I can’t help but feel like we’re missing some of the pieces to this…”

“We gotta rescue her!” the cry went up.

“L-Luffy-sama, I don’t know…what to do…” Shirahoshi wept.

A small group of fishmen armed with nets and other items snuck up on the figures I’d spotted when I’d arrived. In seconds, they had Luffy, Chopper, _Hachi_ – who was bandaged and looked like he’d just been hit with something – and Sanji, who…had turned to stone.

I didn’t see Hancock anywhere, though….

“We caught them! We caught the Straw Hats!”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not all of us you—“

“You’re right!” I was suddenly pushed in the back and landed at Hachi’s feet with a grunt.

“You couldn’t have been at least somewhat gentle?!” I barked back at the fishman as he retreated into the crowd.

“Maria!” Luffy exclaimed in surprise. “Where’ve you been!”

“Around.” I wiggled in the bonds that kept my arms tied to my sides; it was pretty much impossible for me to get up into a sitting position, so I just remained with my side on the ground where I was. “I was walking around town when I heard them say we were kidnapping mermaids and were going to be the cause of some prophesized disaster. There’s got to be something else going on.”

“Prophesized disaster?!” Chopper repeated in alarm. “So that’s why they were coming after us before….”

We heard a few Fishmen cheering about having caught us, claiming that they’d caught Sea Kings that were far worse than us.

“You guys are fishermen?!” Chopper called over. “We’re not fish!”

“I remember you, too!” A merman fishman came over and poked Hachi. “You’re the punk who used to be in Arlong’s group!”

Hachi didn’t answer. If anything, while he was conscious, he really didn’t look like he _should_ be.

“You’re safe now, Princess-sama!” a mermaid called up.

“Turn them over to the Ammo Knight so they can cut their heads off!” a fishman added.

I snorted. “I’d like to see them _try.”_

“U-um, it’s not like that everybody,” Shirahoshi spoke up gently. “Luffy-sama was not—“

“Hey, guys!” Luffy spoke up suddenly. “Something’s flying towards us! There!”

I turned around so that I could see what Luffy was motioning with his head towards while some fishmen scoffed at his words, not believing him.

“What?! Hey, something’s really flying towards us!” a fishman called, pointing up.

At the same time, I caught sight of the object as well, and my eyes narrowed as I tried to focus and see what it was.

“Is it just some coral?” a fishman asked.

“No, somebody’s on it,” the fishman who had spotted it replied.

I pushed myself up a little in order to get a better look, using my lower body to push myself up into a kind of banana-shaped position on my stomach. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it did what I needed it to for the moment.

“That’s Vander Decken!” the fishman yelled as soon as I caught sight of the four-legged figure that was standing on the large coral that was coming our way.

Four legs? Had to be a fishman.

Wait…didn’t Brook say something before about Vander Decken being a _ghost?_ Ha! I knew that had to be false!

“I found you! I suspect!” yelled a voice from above – Decken’s. “Shirahoshi!”

The soft gasp from the mermaid princess definitely sounded afraid. “Vander Decken-sama!”

“He must’ve been hiding for a long time and now he’s finally showed himself!” a fishman called out. “Princess-sama, run! We’ll handle this!”

“I want your answer, Shirahoshi!” Decken called. “If it’s ‘yes,’ you can escape death!”

“Yes to what?” I muttered as Luffy gritted his teeth in annoyance.

“You have to marry me!” Decken declared as Shirahoshi flinched back.

I don’t know _what_ sort of look I had on my face right then, but the fishmen who were standing nearby caught sight of it and stared at me with wide eyes.

“Oh no you don’t,” I hissed. “You sound _way_ too old, buddy! Leave the kid alone!”

“You’ve been throwing weapons at her for ten years to kill her and now you wanna marry her?!” a fishman demanded.

Their attention was off me, so I closed my eyes and focused, brow furrowing as the fishmen around us yelled at Decken.

I needed just enough fire to—

“Maria, wait.”

I opened my eyes and looked up at Luffy, frowning. “Luffy, you know I—“

“I know. But I promised Coward I’d block everything thrown by that guy.” Luffy’s gaze was on Vander Decken and his Flying Coral of Doom. “Just wait here.”

My frown deepened at that, but I didn’t argue; if Luffy had promised something, I shouldn’t get in the way of it. “Got it. But that guy’s mine to take care of.”

“Fine.” Luffy grinned.

“I want your answer, Shirahoshi! I suspect it’s ‘yes!’”

Decken kept laughing for a while as his coral got closer; the fishmen around us quickly raised their improvised weapons.

“Um…” Shirahoshi said softly.

Decken stopped laughing. “What do you wanna say?! ‘Yes’?!”

“You…You’re not my type!”

I blinked. That was _not_ the answer I had been expecting, and evidentially that wasn’t the answer that Decken had been expecting either. I thought the kid was gonna say he was too _old_ for her, but then again, I didn’t really know anything about how the Fishman kingdom’s culture worked.

And humans have been known to marry people waaaay out of their age range, but…still this kid hadn’t completely lost the baby fat on her face yet. She was probably still a minor.

There was a really, really long pause before Shirahoshi’s words smacked into Decken.

“What?! No!”

“What?! Is that the reason?!” all the fishfolk exclaimed at once.

Decken stumbled to say something for a moment, and then his tune changed. “You bitch! You trampled on my feelings of ten years and now who will you marry?!”

Ten—

“He’s been _stalking_ her for ten years?!” I roared. A couple fishmen looked at me in surprise and backed away a little. “All right, _that’s it!_ This guy needs to learn something about proper social etiquette about women and underage girls or so help me he’s going to learn what it’s like to be _grilled!_ Literally!”

Hachi made a noise of terror at that.

“If you don’t love me, your very existence irritates me! Drop dead, Shirahoshi!”

I saw twin gleams of metal – Decken was obviously carrying weaponry.

“Run, Princess Shirahoshi!” a fishman yelled. “Hurry up! We’ll stop him with our lives!”

“Don’t go anywhere! Stay there, Coward!”

A fishman looked back at Luffy at his cry. “What are you saying?! We can’t trust you pirates!”

“You’re Decken’s accomplice, aren’t you?” another added. “You want her to die?!”

“Did you not _hear me_ when I _threatened_ to _grill him?!_ ” I roared, causing the fishman to flinch. “Do you really _think_ that we could _stand_ to work together, if he stalked _a child_ for ten years?!”

“Shirahoshi-sama is not a child, she is sixteen!” another shot back.

“And I’m 40!” I snapped. _“She is a child and he is an old man – do you really_ think _that those two would be together?! Huh?!_ ”

“If you run somewhere, I can’t keep you safe!” Luffy yelled at Shirahoshi.

“O-okay, I’ll stay!” Shiahoshi replied quickly.

“Princess-sama!” a mermaid exclaimed.

The fishmen started to move in closer. “How dare you scare her!”

“You evil pirate!”

“Sorry, guys. I have nothing against you but you’re in my way!”

What happened next – well, I’d felt it before. The wave of pressure that lashed out from Luffy was short, but it had a _noticeable_ effect, because all the fishmen in the area dropped like flies. I, on the other hand, didn’t feel its affects at all – probably because I’d felt it a few times before.

Luffy leapt to his feet and turned his legs into springs for a moment. His skin turned pink. “Second Gear!”

Then he turned into a blur and slammed his legs into the coral that was flying towards Shirahoshi, sending it and Decken flying.

“Ha ha!” I grinned widely in triumph.

“He did it with his hands tied!” a fishman exclaimed in amazement.

“Why do you wanna interfere with my business with Shirahoshi?!” Decken demanded as he fell through the air. “Are you the one who took Shirahoshi out?”

Luffy’s legs wrapped around Decken’s upper body and spun into a braid.

“Are you the one that’s been throwing things at Coward?!” Luffy roared back.

“I’ll kill you both!” Decken threatened. “Let me put you two together and cut you into quarters!”

“Try it!” Luffy yelled back. “Gum Gum Jet—“

He promptly flipped over and slammed Decken into the ground, face-first. “Hammer!”

I grinned widely when Decken collided with the earth. “That fool had better be conscious still, because I want a piece of him, too!”

“Come and get one!” Luffy called back as he fell back to earth.

“With pleasure!”

That was when I let my powers loose.

Flames took over the ropes that bound me, burning them to ash in a flash as I jumped to my feet. I backflipped onto my hoverboard as I shifted to my armor – causing some of the fishmen near me to gasp in surprise – and I shot over their heads to where Vander Decken was twitching in his crater.

“Hey!” I barked coldly. “Get up. We’re not done with you yet.”

Luffy landed and bounced over to the others as Vander Decken rose to his feet and glared at me.

“And who are you?” he demanded. “Another one who wishes to stand between me and—“

“Shut up.”

**Change in POV**

The cold tone in Maria’s voice stopped Vander Decken short. The bruised, slightly concussed fishman looked up at her and narrowed his eyes. She looked like a young human, and she definitely wasn’t as beautiful as the mermaid princess who had turned down his offer of marriage.

“Do you really think that you can get away with stalking a child for ten years?” Maria asked coldly. She held out her right arm, and it became covered in flames. “People like you disgust me. You can’t just go ahead and do things that you think are for love when they actually aren’t. And stalking a _child_ with lust in your eyes is the worst offense.”

Maria’s blue eyes were cold, unlike the flames that licked at her arms but did not burn her.

“So. How would _you_ like it if you were marked?! Fire Sphere!”

The sphere of flames that launched off Maria’s arm and at Vander Decken caused him to snap out of his daze; he tried to bolt, but with a flick of Maria’s wrist, every time Decken changed direction, so did the sphere of flames the size of her head, cutting him off at every turn and zooming ever closer to his head.

Eventually, it hit the back of his head and started burning into his hair and hat, causing him to drop to the ground and start screaming in pain.

The flames died slightly – but not by much.

“That’s not going away for a long time,” Maria said.

“Maria! Let’s go!”

Maria looked up sharply at Luffy’s call as Megalo took off, Shirahoshi clinging to the shark, and Luffy, Sanji, Hachi, and Chopper on his back. She promptly shot up after him as the fishmen closed in on the screaming-in-pain Decken.

Maria caught up with the others just as Decken let out a pained screech from the coast below: _“Wadatsumi!”_

Maria turned sharply at the sound, facing the wall of water that rose up as the Sea Bonze erupted from the sea with a loud yell.

“He looks familiar,” Luffy commented.

“He’s the Sea Bonze who attacked _Sunny!_ ” Chopper identified. “He works for Decken!”

 _“Stop them!”_ Decken yelled again, once again sounding pained.

“I got it!” Wadatsumi called back.

Maria started to move as Wadatsumi started to bring back an arm for a punch, but Luffy had already shifted to Gear Second and knocked a front tooth out with a Jet Pistol before Maria had the chance to charge up an attack.

The Sea Bonze promptly fell back, and Megalo took off in a different direction for the bubble.

When Maria finally landed on Megalo’s back, her hoverboard connected with her back again as she shifted out of her armor, and she sighed as all the tension melted from her shoulders.

“I forgot how stiff it feels to keep my emotions from coming out and affecting my actions,” Maria commented. “I probably shouldn’t do that as often or for as long as I have.”

“Let’s go, Coward!” Luffy declared. “To the Sea Forest!”

“Y-you set his head on fire!” Hachi yelped. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?!”

Maria shrugged. “Burned his hair off?”

“And made yourself an enemy of Vander Decken and—“ Hachi cut himself off, looking worried. “You’ve made yourself a target, Maria. I hope you know what you are doing.”

“I’ve been a target before.” Maria sat down next to Hachi, looking over his bandages worriedly. “Vander Decken isn’t someone that I’m worried about. There are others that scare me far more than a fishman with a Devil Fruit power and a stalking problem.”

Hachi looked like he wanted to ask, but decided against it. After Maria having made a statement like that, some things were just better left alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I doublechecked Shirahoshi's age on the One Piece Wiki. She is, in fact, sixteen.


	12. Trouble Follows Wherever We Go

**Maria’s POV**

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was expecting of a “Sea Forest,” but what I did end up seeing when we arrived was pretty cool. It looked like the coral here had gathered itself into tree- _like_ structures, and because of the sunlight that was so far down here everything was brightly colorful to the point that I _almost_ thought that we were back up on the surface on an island somewhere.

Almost. The fact that we were in a bubble on Megalo’s back was _not_ lost on me.

“It’s beautiful!” Luffy marveled. “So this is the Sea Forest!”

“I always wanted to come here,” Shirahoshi said. It sounded like she was being quiet in a respectful sort of way. Then she started tearing up. “Thank you very much, Luffy-sama!”

I smiled a little and leaned back against Megalo’s dorsal fin, then looked over at Sanji and frowned. He’d been murmuring about mermaids in a half-conscious state, trapped in some kind of love fever, I guess.

“Any idea how you’re gonna snap him out of it?” I looked over at Chopper.

Our doctor shook his head. “I have no idea. I hope I can figure something out.”

“Oh, that’s the _Sunny!”_

Luffy’s exclamation drew my attention as Chopper ran over to Luffy.

“Yeah! Franky is there too!”

“That’s good.” I moved to my feet and looked over Luffy’s and Chopper’s heads as we approached the ship. “I’d be worried if they weren’t together!”

“Hey, Franky!” Luffy yelled. “I didn’t know that you were here!”

“Luffy?!” Franky turned around and looked up at us; I could barely hear him, he was so far away from us yet. “What the hell?! You’re with quite the pin-up girl!”

I gained an annoyed expression at Franky’s exclamation while Luffy laughed. “Really, man, couldn’t you be more polite…?”

Megalo breached the bubble around the Sea Forest and came down to land next to the _Sunny,_ letting us get off and allowing Chopper to raid his medical supplies on the ship.

“Let me introduce you,” Luffy said, motioning between Franky and Shirahoshi. “She’s Coward.”

I facepalmed and shook my head.

“Oh, you’re Coward! You have to get tougher, don’t you, Sis?” Franky asked cheerily.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” Shiahoshi replied. “My real name is Shirahoshi.”

“She’s the mermaid princess,” I said to Franky, causing his eyes to nearly bug out of his head.

“Franky, no one else is here?” Luffy looked around.

“Yeah. Actually, Robin came here too but she said she had to look for something and went into the forest of huge coral.” Franky motioned to the corals a short distance from _Sunny._

“Hmmm…” Luffy frowned at the trees in thought.

“I wonder what Robin wanted to look for in there,” I commented.

“Luffy-kun, Maria-chan.”

Now _there_ was a familiar voice I hadn’t expected to hear. I turned quickly in order to see the source of the voice.

There he was – the certain blue fishman who had helped us out two years ago.

A grin quickly stretched across my face, matching the one on his as Luffy exclaimed delightedly, “Jimbei!”

“It’s been a while!” Jimbei said warmly.

“A while is right,” I agreed, nodding. “It’s good to see you’re doing okay.”

“And you two look stronger,” Jimbei said. “I hardly recognized you.”

“They said you weren’t here, so I thought I couldn’t meet you!” Luffy exclaimed.

“Oh? I thought you came here because you got my message.”

“Message?” I blinked. “Ah, nope. Afraid not.”

“Yeah, I didn’t hear anything about a message,” Luffy agreed.

“Hm, that’s odd.” Jimbei frowned.

“Boss Jimbei-sama!” Shirahoshi exclaimed. “It’s been a long time!”

“Oh, Princess Shirahoshi-sama, you’re here too! Long time no—“ Jimbei cut himself off rather abruptly and cried out in shock. “What?! Why are you here?!”

“Hey, Franky!” Chopper called form Megalo’s back. “Can you help me with Hachi and Sanji?”

“Yeah!” Franky came over and took Hachi in his arms. “You’re the octopus guy – what happened to you?”

“Hachi?! What?!” Jimbei rushed over. “How were you injured?! Before that, why are you here at Fishman Island? I thought you’d been caught with Arlong!”

“Nyuu.” Hachi sounded like he’d be far better off taking a nap. “Jimbei-san, why are you here?”

“Franky, Sanji is next!” Chopper called down.

Before any of them could move, though, Sanji leapt off Megalo’s back with his usual grace and landed a fair distance from Franky and the others…before he started singing Shirahoshi’s praises.

I groaned and rolled my eyes as Shirahoshi looked down at Sanji in confusion. “Ignore him, he always acts like that.” I stopped and blinked as Luffy burst out laughing. “Wait. He’s not shooting off on a nosebleed rocket to the heavens anymore. When’d _that_ stop?”

“He’s back to his old self!” Chopper exclaimed in delight, hopping down from Megalo’s back and running around delightedly.

“It’s so noisy. What’s going on? Huh?! Why is Princess Shirahoshi here?!”

I looked up and caught sight of a figure standing on _Sunny’s_ deck and frowned. Who was he? Another fishman? And _why_ was it all that surprising that the princess couldn’t go where she wanted?

Did it have something to do with what Vander Decken’s been trying to do for the last ten years…?

“Hey, who the hell are you?!” Luffy snapped. “Why are you on board _Sunny?!”_

“That’s Den-chan, brother of Tom – my shipwright master,” Franky explained as he came over. “He’s doing the recoating for us.”

“Tom’s brother?” I repeated. “Cool!”

Luffy, however, _completely_ misheard and thought Den was coating Franky’s brother instead.

“…something like that,” Franky said after a moment.

I burst into a round of snickers at the look on Franky’s and Den’s faces.

Jimbei turned his attention back to the mermaid princess. “Princess Shirahoshi-sama, I know why you wanted to come here, but—“

Luffy quickly ran past us and leapt into the air, kicking away an axe that was spinning towards Shirahoshi.

“Again?” Luffy asked in annoyance after he landed.

I moved over to the axe in order to get a closer look at it, then frowned when I saw the rose motif that was on one side of the blade. “How in the world did this thing get all the way out here?”

“It’s that Decken guy,” Luffy explained. “We beat him up so badly but he’s still throwing things! How persistent!”

“Look at what you’ve done!” Jimbei burst out. “Why did you bring her here, Luffy-kun?”

“Don’t worry,” Luffy replied easily. He looked up at Shirahoshi. “You know I got your back, right?”

“Yes!” Shirahoshi replied cheerily.

“How careless!” Jimbei said in horror.

“Luffy is Luffy.” I shook my head and shrugged. “What do you expect us to do?”

**Time Break**

“So that’s the grave she was talking about visiting,” Luffy commented. “She’s been at that for a long time.”

I looked over at where Shirahoshi sat in front of the small, white building that was just outside of the Sea Forest’s bubble, head bowed in prayer.

“That is her mother, Queen Otohime’s grave,” Jimbei explained. “Vander Decken’s relentless courtship began right after the Queen’s death. That’s why the princess couldn’t even attend her mother’s funeral, and has spent the last ten years in the Hard Shell Tower.” He sighed and shook his head. “The things that she wanted to tell her mother kept building up inside her heart, probably.”

“I guess then, without anyone who could detect and deflect any weapons Decken threw, she wasn’t able to come down and see her,” I said softly.

That only cemented my anger against Decken more – how _dare_ he do this to a child?? He was going to really get what was coming to him, or I swear I would—

“Luffy! Maria!”

I blinked, coming very quickly out of my thoughts at the familiar voice.

“Luffy-chin! Maria-chin!”

And it was accompanied by _another_ familiar voice – one I hadn’t heard in two years, but still recognized.

I turned my head as Luffy and Jimbei did the same, catching sight of a large fish with a bubble on its back swimming thought a bubble-made tube of water towards us.

“Nami! Camie!” Luffy called, waving his arms above his head.

I grinned and raised a hand in greeting. “Hey!”

The fish quickly pulled up to a nearby bus stop, and the two of them got out and approached us. Nami’s expression was…strangely serious.

Camie screeched when she saw Shirahoshi as the mermaid princess re-entered the bubble.

“Nami!” Luffy greeted cheerily. “Did the banquet start?”

“Banquet?” I looked over at him sharply. “There was a banquet somewhere and you guys didn’t find me for it? No fair!”

“Nami-swan!” Sanji came right over to Nami’s side, acting just as he did two years ago.

“Ah, actually, about that….”

Nami quickly explained to us what exactly had happened, filling in gaps in a story that I had not been there for.

Apparently, Neptune _had_ invited us up to his palace for a banquet before the prophecy fiasco – Zoro, Luffy, Brook, Usopp, and Nami had been up there – but then a fishman named Hody Jones had broken into the palace by using human pirates as cannon fodder. Nami and Camie had escaped, but the others were still somewhere inside.

“Is that true?! Hody did it?!”

Nami nodded grimly in response to Jimbei’s question.

“I never thought that such things could happen at the Ryugu Palace,” Jimbei said grimly.

“What happened to Zoro and the others?!” Luffy demanded.

“I don’t know. I was gonna go back as soon as I met you,” Nami replied.

“N-no!” Shirahoshi started crying. “I can’t believe Father-sama has been caught!”

I discreetly moved away from Shirahoshi as her tears plopped to the ground and left large puddles.

“Luffy-kun, I’m sorry,” Jimbei said, causing us to look back at us. “I left you the message because I didn’t want to get you into trouble, but I let you get involved already. We have to hurry but let me just say, two years ago when I met Luffy-kun, it was harder for me to talk about it than it is now. I’ve been feeling very thankful to those people who stopped the Arlong Pirates running wild in the East Blue. That was you guys, wasn’t it?”

I knew I hadn’t been there for that, but Luffy, Nami, and Sanji had been. And the looks on their faces were enough of an indication for Jimbei as to his answer.

“Thank you! Let me express my gratitude. And I want to apologize at the same time.”

“Jimbei-san….” Hachi said weakly.

“The person who is responsible for letting Arlong loose into the East Blue was…me!”

The look on Nami’s face as soon as Jimbei said that made a chill run down my spine. Jimbei, just what had you _done?_

Jimbei looked up at Shirahoshi as she continued to cry. “Shirahoshi, don’t worry. Maybe they got the King but they can’t really take his life.”

“What? Are you sure?” Shirahoshi asked.

“Yes. And I will save the King at any cost!”

Shirahoshi looked relieved. “Okay. I will be counting on you, Boss-sama!”

“Now let me talk to Luffy-kun and the others for a while.”

Sanji came dancing by, juggling four cups of tea – one larger than the rest – and stopped in front of me, Nami, Camie, and Shirahoshi.

“Have some tea!” the lovesick cook implored.

“Thanks. Leave it here, Sanji,” Nami told him. “And we’re having a serious conversation, so stop acting like that!”

I took one of the cups of tea from Sanji’s outstretched hand as Camie took one from the other. The fact that Sanji was balancing on _one leg_ for this was pretty impressive in its own right. I don’t think he could have done that two years ago.

“I love you, Nami-swan, even when you’re so severe!” Sanji exclaimed.

“Sanji-chin hasn’t changed a bit!” Camie marveled.

I snorted. “You should’ve seen him when we first got here, nosebleeding all over the place at even the _thought_ of a woman. He could’ve bleed himself out – I’m glad that’s stopped _now_ , though.”

Luffy snatched away the tea that would have been meant for Nami, sending Sanji into a momentary fit – at least, until Nami spoke.

“So, Jimbei-san. What do you mean? When you say you set Arlong loose into the East Blue?”

Nami’s tone was cold.

“Nyuu.” Hachi was lying on the ground near us, where Chopper was making sure he was stable. “Jimbei-san.”

“I know,” Jimbei replied quietly.

Sanji lit a cigarette. “That’s what I heard.”

“Eh?” Nami looked over at him.

“When Luffy and I first heard the name Jimbei of the Warlords, that’s what Yosaku told us,” Sanji explained.

“Who?” I blinked.

“A friend of Zoro’s,” Sanji elaborated.

“Zoro had friends before he joined up with Luffy?” I raised an eyebrow.

Sanji smirked.

“Was that what he said?” Luffy asked.

“I bet you don’t remember it,” Sanji muttered.

“I wonder how Yosaku is doing.” Luffy’s tone sounded nostalgic. I guess they parted on good terms.

Sanji folded his arms across his chest. “When I read that you were with Jimbei two years ago in the newspaper, it raised so many questions in my mind. Because I thought Jimbei was the key figure who was pulling Arlong’s strings.”

Jimbei looked like he was about to lay it on Sanji verbally.

“Hey, Jimbei. If you wanna make excuses, I’ll listen. But you better watch what you say.” Sanji looked at Jimbei with a grim expression. “As a matter of fact, this beautiful navigator Nami-san here had her home island taken over by Arlong.”

Jimbei’s eyes widened sharply.

“And she’s been through hell because of it!” Sanji added. “Depending on what you have to say, I might not forgive you!”

“Nyuu!” Hachi started to force himself up into a sitting position. “Jimbei-san!”

“Hatchin!” Camie quickly moved to support her friend.

“Your wounds are gonna open up again!” Chopper said with concern. “Don’t get up!”

“He’s right!” Hachi looked up at Jimbei. “We gave her so much pain that we can’t heal no matter how much we apologize.”

The look on Jimbei’s face – clearly, he had _not_ known about the extent of what Nami had gone through, and didn’t look like he was going to be able to imagine what it was that she had gone through, either.

I’d already tried, and while I could remember…similar experiences, especially now, I knew that I shouldn’t compare anything that had happened to me with what had happened to her.

But Jimbei _did_ need to explain himself. Considering what had happened to Nami and where Arlong had come from, we needed to know why what had happened had happened.

It took a moment for Jimbei to recover from his shock. “…Sounds like you had a terrible experience.”

“You bastard! Don’t distance yourself!” Sanji pointed at Jimbei accusingly.

“Yes.”

We looked over at Nami, who wasn’t meeting any of our gazes.

“It would never make me change the way I feel about Arlong, but until I went to Sabaody Archipelago two years ago, I never knew that such tough fishmen were persecuted by humans. When Camie was kidnapped and I was going after her, I couldn’t believe what I saw. The Sabaody Perk looked like the Arlong Park that Arlong had built.”

I blinked at that. I remembered the amusement park, and spending time there with Luffy and the others – it’d been where Airam had caught me off guard the same time Camie had been caught.

“We were yearning for it,” Hachi managed to say. “I’m not saying this to make you forgive me. Nami!” He quickly scrambled onto his hands and knees. “Arlong-san really didn’t like humans!” He bowed his head. “He hated them. We went too far. But ever since we were kids, we yearned for the world that humans live in. Me, Arlong-san…everyone.”

Hachi’s voice started wavering; it sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “But we hurt so many humans!” He winced and grabbed one of his wounds.

“Hachi, don’t push yourself!” Chopper said with concern. “I’m gonna prepare some medicine, so lie down.”

Hachi didn’t push against Camie and Chopper when they lay him back down on the ground. “Nyuu…I heard that fishmen and merfolk were considered mere fish a long time ago. But 200 years ago, the Ryugu Kingdom became a member country of the World Government. They established friendly relations with humans, and the king was allowed to participate in the World Summit. Despite that, humans kept disliking fishmen.”

“The worst time that I experienced was the beginning of the Great Pirate Era,” Den spoke up from _Sunny’s_ deck. “I vividly remember the fear of seeing human pirates running wild on the island. I can’t get it out of my mind! Fishman Island was taken over by the humans!”

“And then, the late, good Whitebeard saved us,” Jimbei said, picking up where Den left off. “He claimed Fishman Island as his own, and peace returned to the island. However, it didn’t stop humans from disliking fishmen.”

I winced at the tale they were telling. Yes, it was important for us to understand where Arlong was coming from but…

Well, I’d known that neither side could claim to not be at fault for the other’s actions. Only learning the tale of the fishmen _now_ really showed how much humans didn’t like to think or even talk about them.

“I know that you people saw it at Sabaody Archipelago,” Jimbei continued. “The reality of it. The funny thing is, those who seize power tend to be more afraid of change.”

“They like their status quo; anything that could possibly change that puts their greedy livelihoods in jeopardy,” I said grimly. “Such is the way of anyone who has greed for that kind of power at the center of their hearts.”

Jimbei nodded. “Even though the Government bridge the gap between fishmen and humans, those who held the real power ended up being much more bigoted than all the others. The relationship between fishmen and humans remained the same.”

I nodded, grim-faced.

“Then, two people rose up on Fishman Island to change our hopeless history. One was Queen Otohime.”

Shirahoshi immediately started tearing up.

“She kept trying to tell the islanders to live in harmony with humans. She was Princess Shirahoshi’s mother. And the other is the hero who freed the slaves – Fisher Tiger.”

“Something Tiger…” Luffy frowned in thought. “I heard that name before.”

I wonder where he did….

“Calling for parting ways with humans, he broke an unspoken rule and invaded the Holyland of Mariejois himself and freed the slaves. Later, he formed the Sun Pirates with the fishmen who were slaves.”

“The Sun Pirates?” Sanji repeated.

“Yes! Me, Arlong, and Hachi joined the crew of the Sun Pirates, naturally.”

My eyes moved to the red sun brand on Jimbei’s chest as he pulled back on his clothes, revealing it fully. Did that mean…?

“However, having the “Fishman Pirates,” who went against the Government, made it harder for Queen Otohime to establish good relations with humans.” Jimbe readjusted his clothes, hiding most of the sun from view.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Queen Otohime was trying to weather great hardships and change the future. Fisher Tiger threw his future away to save the slaves of his race who were suffering at the time. No one can say which one was right or wrong.”

Jimbei opened his eyes and looked at us. “Let’s talk. They fought for the future of fishmen and humans. They were two monumental figures, but they carried hidden pains of their own!”


	13. The Past Affects The Present

“I’m going to tell you about an incident that made Arlong rampage through the East Blue,” Jimbei said seriously. He looked at the group in front of him – specifically Nami. “I want you especially to know about this.”

Nami gave a slight nod. “All right.”

Jimbei considered her response, then sat down. Maria, Sanji, and Luffy moved to do the same, but Nami remained standing. No one commented on it.

“It all began sixteen years ago….”

From there, Jimbei launched into a tale about a kind queen, a fishman pirate with a demon in his heart and a hidden secret of his own, and the chaos that came of Queen Otohime trying to bring the peoples of humankind and fishmen together.

He told them about the slave girl the Sun Pirates took home, and the trap that was sprung afterwards that caused Fisher Tiger to die, and in his final breaths, reveal that he had been a slave himself for several years.

And he told them about Arlong, how he had wanted to kill humans since the beginning, and made sure the Navy paid for their killing of the Sun Pirates’ captain. How Jimbei had taken over as the Sun Pirates’ captain, and continued in Fisher Tiger’s footsteps.

How Otohime endured in her mission, despite how difficult it was to collect the signatures for her petition to relocate to the surface and change the minds of the people around her.

How Shirahoshi had summoned Sea Kings when she thought her mother was going to be taken from her by the Nobles, revealing that she had a strange power of her own.

And, finally, how Jimbei had become a Warlord and set Arlong free after they’d split the Sun Pirates, and how Otohime was killed collecting the signatures she’d wanted, only to have them burned.

Maria listened through the whole tale, her expression remaining as grim as Jimbei told them everything. The expression on her face shifted from grim to disgusted when she heard about what had happened to Tiger and Koala, then pained as she looked away from the others, rubbing the back of her neck like there was an itch there that had been bothering her for years, and it wasn’t going to leave her alone anytime soon.

“Maria-san?” Sanji spoke up quietly when Jimbei finished. “Are you all right? Is there a crick in your neck?”

“…I’m fine.” Maria looked away from the others. “Just…let’s just say that some of the memories that I’ve recovered in the last two years have caused past events to hit a little closer to home than I was expecting them to.”

Sanji blinked a couple times at Maria’s statement.

“We would have gone after Arlong ourselves because of how violent he was, but he paid off the officers around him to keep his actions secret from the Navy and from us,” Jimbei said grimly. “As a result, I made you and many others suffer.”

He slammed his palms into the ground and bowed forward, causing Nami to breathe in sharply out of surprise. “I feel responsible!”

“Oh yeah?” Sanji got up to his feet, tone cold. “Then why don’t you cut your own belly?!”

“Sanji!” Maria leapt up to her feet, glaring at the cook. “Blood does not pay for what has happened; what’s done is done. Having Jimbei die here now would not only cause Luffy and I to lose a friend, but do you realize how much more hate we would have piled on our heads from the fishmen and merfolk?!” I motioned up to the kingdom far above our heads.

“I just want to help to relieve Nami-san of her pain!”

“Stop, Sanji-kun!” Nami barked.

Sanji and I turned to look at Nami.

“But Nami-san,” Sanji protested, “what they have done to you was—“

Nami held up a hand to stop Sanji. “That’s a different story! This man didn’t mean to hurt us.”

“Nami-san….”

“I will take any punishment,” Jimbei said with grim finality. “If it makes you happy—“

“Stop.”

Jimbei looked up at Nami in confusion.

“Stop. The only one I hate is Arlong.”

Jimbei’s eyes widened as his expression shifted to awe.

Nami sighed in and sat down. “Anyway, I’m glad that you are not the mastermind of the Arlong Pirates. Because you’re Luffy’s and Maria’s friend, aren’t you? Like Maria said?”

Maria looked between Nami and Jimbei with a concerned expression.

“It’s true that I’ve gone through hell because of the Arlong Pirates, but I met friends in that horrible turmoil.” Nami reached up to one of her shoulders – and the pinwheel tattoo that was exposed to the open air. “One thing led to another and I am who I am today. I’m not gonna hate you because you’re a fishman.” She looked over at Jimbei and smiled warmly. “So don’t pity me because of my life! It’s not so bad because I’m enjoying it in the present!”

Jimbei’s eyes were so wide it looked like they were going to pop out of his head. And then the tears started pouring down his face. “I don’t deserve such words of kindness! Thank you!”

Maria relaxed with an expression of relief and chuckled quietly as Hachi started crying because of Nami’s words, as did the others.

Franky started outright bawling. “Oh! I know how hard it is to be a big brother! You’re the man, Jimbei! I like Tiger and Otohime and everybody very much!”

“Shut up, Franky!” Sanji yelled.

“I wish I could have met them,” Maria commented. “Heh. I wonder what they would have thought of someone like me.”

Luffy fell over and started snoring.

“Hey, wake up!” Sanji dashed over and kicked Luffy in the head.

“Eh? Wha?” Luffy yawned and pushed himself back up into a sitting position. “That was a good nap.”

“I can’t believe it!” Sanji muttered. “I thought it was unusual for you to listen so quietly!”

Luffy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned while Maria rolled her eyes. Then he looked over at Jimbei and blinked in surprise. “Jimbei? Are you crying?”

Jimbei stiffened, then quickly rubbed the water out of his eyes. “What are you saying? I am not crying!”

Luffy blinked, then looked over at Nami, who was still smiling. “Why is that?”

“Cut it out! I said I am not crying!”

“Hmmm…ok well!” Luffy picked up his hat from where it had fallen off his head and put it back on. “And Jimbei, what did happen to the thief that Coward’s mother caught?”

“You must’ve been sleeping most of the time!” Sanji snapped. “That was the very beginning!”

“Was it?”

“It was!”

Maria chuckled and shook her head at the two of them.

“Hey, so your name was Shirahoshi?”

“N-Nami-chin, she’s the princess!” Camie exclaimed at Nami’s question. “You can’t just say ‘hey’!”

“Yes! Oh, excuse me – I was crying remembering my mother.” Shirahoshi closed her eyes for a moment, trapping the tears.

Maria came over to stand next to Nami, smiling confidently.

“She was quite a woman, wasn’t she?” Nami asked.

“Yes!” Shirahoshi finished wiping away the tears, then leaned forward. “So, you are Nami-chin-sama.”

“Aah! No, Princess-sama! Nami-chin is her nickname. Her real name has no ‘chin’.”

Maria chuckled at Camie’s panic. “Don’t worry about it, Camie.”

“It feels like I have known you since I was a kid although we just met for the first time. I feel comfortable with you.” Shirahoshi said warmly.

“Yeah? Maybe that’s because we’ve been through similar things,” Nami remarked.

Shirahoshi laughed and nodded in agreement.

“Everything’s gonna turn out okay,” Maria said in confidence. She grinned. “We’ve got Luffy on our side.”

Jimbei cleared his throat, and Maria looked over as he rose to his feet. “Excuse me. I took too much time. I need to know who is still at the Ryugu Palace now.”

Maria’s expression shifted from a grin to a more serious expression so fast it looked like it could have caused her emotional whiplash.

“Hody and his crew invaded the palace and captured the King and his soldiers,” Jimbei said. “And you don’t know what happened to four of you. That’s all the information we have so far.”

“Nyuu,” Hachi said to get the others’ attention. “Jimbei-san, if things are going as Hody planned, the whole country might be in a terrible state by now.”

“All the more reason to get back up there and take care of things before they get worse.” Maria slammed a fist into an open palm. The spark in her gaze already suggested she might have something in mind.

Jimbei turned sharply to look at his former crewmate. “Do you know what his plan is?! I suspected he was up to something in the Fishman District after retiring from the army, but he never revealed it to me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Hachi replied grimly. “Hody hates humans more than Arlong-san did. He has been living on the resentment and anger of the fishmen, and nothing else. And there is something about him clearly different from Arlong-san. Arlong-san would look down on humans but he would never hurt other fishmen. But Hody will attack those fishmen who are sympathetic to humans without mercy!”

Maria’s gaze hardened further.

“This year is the World Summit which takes place every four years. Since they gathered enough signatures, King Neptune will express his intention to the world finally, to relocate Fishman Island.”

Jimbei’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me he is planning to block it!”

“No. He wants more than that.”

Before anyone could ask what it was Hody wanted, Chopper let out a screech. “What is that?!”

The others turned their heads sharply, and a large, orange Transponder Snail taller than any of them came crawling out from the coral and moved past them.

“That’s a big Transponder Snail!” Chopper yelped.

“It’s a Video Transponder Snail!” Den exclaimed from _Sunny’s_ deck. “Why is it here?”

The snail stopped a short distance from the bubble wall and stared up before a monitor flickered to live on its surface.

“Look – it’s activated!”

“It’s projecting something onto the bubble!” Camie exclaimed. A moment later, she and Nami winced as Jimbei’s face darkened.

“That’s…” Jimbei growled.

“He’s the…”

“Nami-san, you know him?” Sanji asked as Nami trailed off.

“I think I can guess.” Maria’s eyes narrowed.

“Nyuu! Hody!”

“What?!” Chopper quickly ran over to Hachi. “That’s him?!”

_::Uh, everybody on Fishman Island. Can you hear me? I’m the captain of the New Fishman Pirates from the Fishman District, Hody Jones!::_

Maria gritted her teeth as her hands clenched into fists. She took in the fishman’s appearance – the pointed nose, pale gray skin, shark-like red eyes and matching teeth – and put him at the back of her mind with Vander Decken as targets of impending wrath.

_::There is something I want to tell all the citizens of the Ryugu Kingdom. This country will soon be destroyed. And it will be rebuilt under a new king. Me!::_

A hiss escaped between Maria’s teeth as Jimbei’s eyes narrowed.

_::The new Fishman Island over which I will rule is going to be strict on discipline. Those of you who hope for friendly relations with humans, get packing and leave the country! Humans are weak and they don’t know their place. They don’t deserve any help from us strong fishmen. Instead, we will have new residents from the Fishman district soon. They hate humans and hope to change this island, like us. They’re in the same camp as us::_

“Bad idea,” Maria muttered under her breath. Her hands were shaking from how tightly they were clenched.

_::I bet you all witnessed how your beloved Queen Otohime died. She was so selfless and tried so hard to build a bridge between fishmen and humans. But who killed her?! It was a human. If you trust them and meet halfway in friendship, they’ll disappoint you again! Why can’t you see it?!::_

Maria shook her head, eyes blazing with a grim anger that didn’t look right on her face. She _said_ she was 40, but she still looked 18, and the look in her eyes did not match with her physical appearance.

_::Duped by the Neptune family, you are all heading down the path of death. Their high-sounding dream is just unfeasible. It’s a lie that will lead you to perdition::_

“No!” Shirahoshi protested.

_::Look at this!::_

The camera moved, showing a large merman with orange hair and beard, tied up in chains and with a crown on his head.

“Father-sama!” Shirahoshi exclaimed in shock.

 _::The Great King Neptune got old like anyone else::_ Hody moved into view of the camera, red trident over his shoulder. _::There is no future for Fishman Island if the old guard remains in power::_

Nami frowned in thought. “Unfortunately, the king was captured because of us…or Zoro.”

“What were you up to up there?!” Maria demanded, looking at the navigator.

“Don’t worry, Nami-san,” Sanji replied instantly. “It’s all that Moss Head’s fault.”

“What did you people do?!” Jimbei demanded.

“That’s what I’d like to know!” Maria piped up in agreement. “Why didn’t you tell us that when you got here in the first place?!”

“B-boss Jimbei!” Camie scrambled in front of Jimbei. “Soldiers of Neptune’s army attacked Nami-chin and the others first!”

“Neptune’s army?” Jimbei repeated.

 _::Citizens of Fishman Island!::_ Hody called again, getting the group’s attention. _::It’s time to say goodbye to the old Ryugu Kingdom! Three hours from now, at Conchorde Plaza, I’m going to cut this incompetent king’s head off!::_

Shirahoshi gasped.

_::The Great Pirate Era began when they executed a human – Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates. That era saw humans grow to persecute fishmen. So this time, by executing Neptune, I’ll start the Great Fishman Era, where fishmen will dominate humans!::_

“Does _not_ work that way,” Maria snarled.

 _::As you may know by now, I’m at the Ryugu Palace as I speak. And we found something good::_ Hody traded his trident for a piece of paper. _::It’s the letter from the Celestial Dragons that Queen Otohime got ten years ago, at the risk of her life! If I destroy that letter, it’s over. You won’t get another one. And--::_

Hody moved, and so did the camera, revealing a large box stuffed to overflowing with papers.

_::In this big box, there are signatures from the majority of this country. I couldn’t believe my eyes! There are so many fools who want to befriend humans! Those of you who have signed your name would oppose my new kingdom. So this is actually…a list of traitors!::_

“Primus he’s pulling a dictatorship,” Maria cursed.

_::No more stepping on her picture. It would be easy to pretend you don’t mind stepping on it. But these signatures will tell who is my enemy and who is not. It’s hard evidence! I will take care of those enemies one by one. First::_

Hody started reading off some of the names, and with each name, Maria became more and more incensed in appearance. Sanji considered putting a hand on her shoulder in order to calm her down, but when his hand got close, he felt a _wave_ of heat come off her and decided against it.

_::There are a lot more!::_

_::Stop!::_ came another voice. When Hody turned to look at the large mermaid behind him, it was easy to tell who it was that had spoken. _::I won’t let you hurt my people!::_

 _::Tch::_ Hody looked back at the camera. _::Well, enough for now. We don’t have time anyway. Lastly, Straw Hat Pirates!::_

Maria glared at Hody with narrowed eyes.

_::I’ll show you something good::_

The camera changed suddenly and –

Maria’s eyes widened sharply when she saw the small cage, as well as Usopp, Zoro, and Brook trapped inside, bound in chains. It didn’t look like Zoro was conscious.

_::I know you are somewhere on the island watching this. You people shattered Arlong’s dream – he was a symbol of fishmen’s anger::_

“Zoro! Usopp! Brook!” Chopper exclaimed in shock.

“What fools,” Sanji muttered.

“I can’t believe they got caught!” Nami remarked.

“That just means we can’t underestimate these people,” Maria said shortly. “And I for one do not intend to.”

The cage was pulled up to a high height on the screen before them, before the chamber the cage was in started to fill with water, causing Brook and Usopp to panic and start swinging the cage around as a result of their flailing.

Hody’s laughter blocked out any screaming that might have been going on. _::That room will be filled with water by the time we finish executing the King. You lowly creatures can’t survive that, can you?::_

“Tch.” Maria gritted her teeth.

The screen shifted back to Hody as he held up Luffy’s wanted poster. _::Straw Hat Luffy with a 400 million Beri bounty! Your people’s heads will serve perfectly as a lesson to humans above ground. Now, let’s start cleaning up the old Ryugu Kingdom!::_

A roar of an audience came through the speakers.

_::Bury the embarrassing past and shift the helm towards the great future! Fishman Island will win back its pride in three hours!::_

Hody’s laughter was the last thing they heard before the feed cut out.


	14. Heroes?

**Maria’s POV**

After _that,_ I couldn’t hold in the anger I held anymore. With a loud roar, I slammed my fists into the ground, creating a short shockwave of flames that made a small circle around me before dissipating. “That no-good Sharpedo! I’ll fillet him!”

“No!” Jimbei said immediately. “He is far too strong – you will not be able to stand against him.”

“Hey.”

We looked over at Luffy as he turned around to look at the rest of us.

“He said I’m worth 400 million! When did they raise it!”

I was _not_ in the mood for Luffy’s amazement at his bounty right now. “Right after Marineford! It was all over the newspapers! That’s how _I_ know they changed my title to Fire Storm and bumped my bounty up to 235 million!”

“Obviously they want to fight us,” Sanji commented.

“The War of the Best at Marineford made both of you infamous instantly,” Jimbei said. “Although, when it goes over 300 million, it’s not easily increased again.”

I nodded sternly in agreement as Nami looked over in surprise.

Luffy slammed his fist into his other hand. “But if somebody wants to fight me, I’ll fight!”

“Yeah,” I said in grim agreement.

“Wait, Luffy-kun! Maria-chan!” Jimbei moved forward.

Shirahoshi started crying again, saying “Father” over and over, getting the rest of us to look up in alarm.

“Megalo!” Shirahoshi cried.

“Shaa!” The shark quickly moved over, and Shirahoshi climbed on.

“I have to go save him!”

Megalo started to climb for the top of the bubble at top speed.

“Shirahoshi-sama, wait! Megalo, stop!” Jimbei cried.

The shark stopped short.

“Boss Jimbei-sama! But—“

“Luffy-kun, Maria-chan, Princess-sama, you have to wait!” Jimbei said sternly. He shot me a stern look as I stood in the scorched circle from my fire.

“Nyuu. Princess, I don’t think you should go either.”

“Hachi-sama.” Shirahoshi looked back at the wounded fishman.

“What Hody is most afraid of in the Ryugu Kingdom now is Princess Shirahoshi’s ability!”

“The fact that she can summon Sea Kings?” I asked, frowning.

“Even if he reshapes Fishman Island exactly the way he wants, once she controls the Sea Kings to attack the island, it’ll be gone,” Hachi said grimly. “He took the king hostage to use him as a shield.”

“So what they’re really going for is Shirahoshi-chan,” Sanji concluded.

“First that terror stalker and now this.” I hissed through my teeth in displeasure at all this. “Seriously, attacking a young lady just because you want things to go your way? Not cool, man. Not. Cool.”

“Nyuu. Hody is not planning to capture her to get control of her power.” Hachi moved his gaze from the princess to the rest of us. “He prefers her power didn’t exist at all. That’s why he teamed up with Decken, who is capable of killing her. Hody wants to get rid of everything that could stand in his way.”

“He hasn’t met me yet, then.”

“Nyuu?” Hachi looked over at me in confusion, as did the others.

“You remember how I summoned Lugia before to help us with that rockslide from the eruption?” I asked, looking over at Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Luffy. When they nodded, I said, “I can summon more creatures like him – creatures that are considered Legendary like Lugia where he comes from.”

“Lugia?” Jimbei repeated in confusion.

“No fishman has ever had to face a Pokémon before in battle,” I added. “I can summon Lugia again and – if I need to – I bet I could get Kyogre’s attention for this, too. She likes peace in her seas, and if she hears there’s trouble in another one, _well._ She’s not going to take to it too kindly.”

“Maria-chan, you are speaking of creatures that only exist in fairy tales!” Jimbei said, frowning. “And yet you claim that you are able to summon them? The Harmony of the Sea and the Origin Point are creatures that do not exist!”

“Not on this world.”

That gave him pause.

“If you need to, then do it,” Luffy said.

I nodded as Jimbei stared at me, but then he quickly shook his head and refocused. “Regardless, we cannot rush the plaza. That is exactly what Hody wants Princess-sama to do, and he will be expecting the rest of us as well.”

Megalo lowered back down to the ground.

“I have been told about my power, but I have never communicated with the Sea Kings,” Shirahoshi said nervously. “I don’t even know if I really have that kind of power.”

“But even so, I’m sure that Hody will try to kill you – and you, if you reveal to him this ability of yours and he believes it to actually be true.” Jimbei shot me a look.

“Other people have tried before.” I shrugged. “I’d like to see him make an attempt.”

Jimbei stared at me as though I’d just said I could eat sunlight and dance in the sea without the pressure crushing me flat.

“…and we shouldn’t let Hody know that you can’t control the power.” Jimbei looked back at Shirahoshi. “It’s good that he’s afraid of it.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Jimbei’s head right at that moment, especially concerning me.

“Is that all?” Luffy asked. “Then I’ll get going.” He walked over to Megalo. “Shark! Take me to Ryugu Palace! Sanji, take care of Coward!”

Sanji whooped and quickly came over for a high-five with Luffy. “Count on it!”

“I said ‘wait’, Luffy-kun!” Jimbei said sternly. “You people shouldn’t fight Hody!”

“Why are you trying to stop me?” Luffy demanded.

“Is it because we’re humans?” Chopper and Franky asked.

“You two shouldn’t say that!” Sanji snapped. “It makes things more complicated!”

“That’s right!” Jimbei confirmed. “You humans shouldn’t do that! The surviving fishmen will hate humans again!”

“Mn.” My eyes narrowed, but I didn’t argue with Jimbei on that point. We’d heard his telling of the history of his kingdom; it would make sense that humans would be seen as a danger when it came to fishmen’s own problems.

“You have to leave it to me,” Jimbei said.

“Jimbei, they have my crew!” Luffy argued. “And I got to do something about Hody before my friends get into real trouble!”

Also a good point.

Jimbei sighed irritably and turned to look at us. “Why can’t you see it?!”

“I’m going.”

“You’re impossible!”

“Just shut up!” Luffy glared at Jimbei. “Stop me if you can!”

The two of them stared each other down. I considered stepping in, but – no. No, Luffy was captain. He didn’t need backup of any sort.

And his voice was more than enough to speak for all of us.

“I shouldn’t let my guard down just because we fought together,” Jimbei said. “I almost forgot that you’re that man’s brother. If you’re not going to listen to me, I have no choice!”

I watched as Jimbei moved back a couple steps and into a fighting position. He cracked his knuckles.

“You ready to do this, kid?” Jimbei asked.

“Luffy-chin! Boss Jimbei!” Camie exclaimed from where she stood near the others.

“Luffy! Jimbei!” Nami yelled. “Hold on a second! What are you guys doing?!”

“I’m gonna go to the Ryugu Palace to save my crew and kick that Hody guy’s ass!” Luffy snapped in reply.

“I said don’t do it!” Jimbei responded.

“Hey hey, why do you have to fight now?” Sanji asked.

As the others called for Luffy and Jimbei to stop, I said nothing. Instead, I folded my arms across my chest and watched.

Luffy bolted for Megalo again. “Shark! Take me to the Ryugu Palace!”

“I said wait!” Jimbei moved in his path.

“Outta my way!”

“Fishman Karate – Shark Brick Fist!”

Jimbei punched the air in front of him, creating a shockwave of air that sent Luffy flying back.

The others called out in alarm at the blow; I merely narrowed my eyes.

Jimbei had promised that he wasn’t going to let his guard drop. Looks like he meant it.

Luffy bounced to the ground and held his side as she started to get shakily back to his feet.

“It worked?!” Nami demanded. “He’s supposed to be immune to blows like that as a rubber man!”

“Fishman Karate is all about manipulating the water around you!” Jimbei replied. “The shockwave can travel through water vapor in the air and through to the water within your target’s body! Every living thing is made up of water, so even a rubber man can’t escape the impact!”

“Hm.” I inclined my head slightly. Well, that explained things. But it also made me curious – as a being made of metal, I didn’t have much water in my system compared to a human’s. The only thing that had water _in_ it was the fuel-like blue liquid that ran throughout my body in something similar to a circulation system.

Energon more than likely had water _in_ it. But the question of how much to make it a liquid state…I didn’t want to find out in front of Jimbei’s fist.

Luffy rose unsteadily to his feet. “Damn you!”

Jimbei got into another stance. “I won’t let you go, Luffy!”

Luffy pressed a fist into the ground, creating the spring system that caused his skin to turn pink. “Second Gear! Gum Gum Jet Stamp!”

A foot lashed out quickly, but Jimbei got his arms up in front of himself in time to block the blow. He still remained standing despite it.

“Is that all you learned from your training?” Jimbei asked coldly.

“Don’t bet on it!” Luffy disappeared into a blur again, and he and Jimbei lunged for each other –

\--just as Robin walked out of the coral forest and stood between them. “Enough.”

My eyes widened sharply when I saw her standing there. “Robin, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Robin, get out of the way!” Luffy barked.

“Who are you?! Move!” Jimbei barked.

“Robin-chan’s in danger!” Sanji leapt in between them to pull Robin out of the way, but she…dissolved into flower petals and disappeared from sight.

And then Sanji was hit by fists from Jimbei and Luffy as their fists continued and slammed into each other. The impact sent all three of them flying.

“Don’t fight,” Robin said, coming out of the coral forest.

I did a double-take, shaken _enough_ that my burning anger was pulling back a little. “What the – how did you get your power to _do_ that?”

Robin laughed at my comment. “I don’t know the reason but you two are friends, right?”

“Try telling them that when we’re arguing over something important,” I replied.

“Are you guys okay?” Chopper asked.

Jimbei got up to a sitting position, Luffy doing the same. “Think about it, Luffy. What will happen if you guys resort to violence now on Fishman Island? Every time Fishmen tried to open their hearts to humans, humans disappointed them. ‘Humans are very violent.’ ‘Humans hate and look down on fishmen.’ What happened in the past planted those twisted ideas in fishmen’s minds. In the case of Arlong, many fishmen believe that humans hunted him because he was a fishman. If you, the people who beat Arlong, fight Hody now, what do you think will happen?”

My eyes narrowed slightly.

“Even if it helps the island overcome this crisis, witnessing you people knocking down Hody who is standing against humans would make the islanders think that things will never change,” Jimbei said grimly.

“But, Jimbei, we have to rescue our crew,” Sanji pointed out. “And if nothing is done, Hody will rule Fishman Island.” He pushed himself up into a sitting position. “We have so many friends on the island. Hey, Hachi. You’ve been trying so hard to hide who did that to you, but you said a while ago that Hody attacks those fishmen who are sympathetic to humans.”

I turned and looked at the injured fishman sharply as he winced at Sanji’s words.

“Did you get beaten by them because you spoke up for us?” Sanji asked.

The pained noise that Hachi made all but confirmed it.

“Hachi!” Nami said in alarm.

“Hatchin, is that true?” Camie looked at her friend with concern. “Hody and his crew did that to you?”

“Nyuu! I can’t—“

“Jimbei!” Sanji rose to his feet. “I think part of the reason Luffy wants to fight is because this is your home. I heard that you helped our captain when he had his back against the wall. We can’t thank you enough for that.”

My mind went back to that time two years ago, when Jimbei had been with Luffy and I at Marineford and afterwards, when Luffy had been crying over Ace’s death and had been unsure about completing his dream. I closed my eyes and sighed through my nose, but my anger against Hody still burned, dulling the emotions I’d felt back then.

“And if Luffy wants to fight, we will go along with him!” Sanji added.

My eyes opened sharply. “Yeah. No one has the right to do what Hody is doing to others, whether they are of the same blood or appearance or not. I do not intend to stand by while he hurts the people we and you care about. I don’t want to see the island left in chaos like this.”

Sanji nodded in agreement. “We have a reason to fight.”

Jimbei and Luffy rose to their feet, looking at each other.

Sanji looked like he was going to continue to be serious, but then he went totally lovey-dovey over Camie and Shirahoshi, completely throwing off the mood and causing my anger to rise up again.

“Be serious!” I snapped at Sanji.

“There’s no point in telling him that,” Nami sighed in annoyance.

Luffy moved a couple steps forward. “Get out of my way, Jimbei! You gotta let me go!”

“No, I won’t!” Jimbei replied. “Leave it up to me!”

I stared at Jimbei with an incredulous frown. Didn’t he hear _anything_ of what Sanji had said?!

“You bastard!” Luffy roared. “Then I’ll just beat my way past you!”

“I’ll fight you as many times as I have to till you understand!” Jimbei roared back.

“What did you say?!”

“Cut it out, guys!” Nami snapped.

Jimbei and Luffy didn’t seem to hear her.

“I’m running out of time! I said ‘Get out of my way’!”

“I won’t! I said ‘leave it up to me!’ Why can’t you understand even after I’ve explained it?!”

“Shut up! I don’t give a damn about the history between fishmen and humans when my friends are in danger!”

Did that imply Luffy’d been listening the whole time but only pretended to be asleep or…?

“That is why!” Jimbei barked in reply. “That is why I want you to wait!”

“They both wanna help the country and their friends,” Chopper said worriedly. “Why do they have to fight?!”

“Maria, can you do anything to break it up?” Nami asked.

I shook my head. “I’m not getting between those two. And besides, I agree with both of them.”

“Eh? How??”

“I want to go and fight and rescue our crew and the fishmen from Hody, but I also know that these people won’t accept help from us so easily after accusing us of kidnapping mermaids and seeing us as part of a dangerous prophecy.” My eyes narrowed. “We need to come to a form of a compromise, and these two most likely will in their own way. Until then, we have to wait this out.”

Nami didn’t look all that happy at my comment; I’d say she was about ready to punch me in the head, but she held back.

“They’ll calm down eventually,” I added. “Until we get to that point and come up with a plan, we’ll simply have to wait it out.”

“Outta my way!” Luffy barked.

“No! I won’t let you go!” Jimbei replied.

“Hey, that’s enough already,” Sanji commented.

“E-excuse me, but they are going to kill Father-sama,” Shirahoshi spoke up.

I’m not sure if Luffy or Jimbei heard.

“I said ‘outta my way!’ I’m gonna go kick those guys’ asses!”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I said ‘wait!’ Let me finish!”

That was a new response. I raised an eyebrow at Jimbei.

“How would you describe our relationship?” Jimbei pressed.

“We’re friends!” Luffy replied instantly.

“That’s right. It’s such a simple relationship but the fishmen and humans couldn’t establish it and have been struggling to do so for years. When I left you the message ‘don’t fight Hody,’ I _meant_ ‘don’t fight him recklessly.’ Don’t rush!”

I snorted. If Jimbei thought Luffy could read into a message that much, either he was overestimating Luffy’s intelligence or could have worded it a little differently.

“If you just go and beat Hody up, people on the island will think you are just another violent human bully. Instead, I want you to become the hero that will save Fishman Island!”

A bold declaration on Jimbei’s part. I grinned widely.

“Hero?” Luffy repeated. “NO!”

I blinked. “Eh?”

“What?!” Jimbei demanded.

“We’re pirates!” Luffy replied. “I love heroes but I don’t wanna be one!”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Do you know what heroes are?” Luffy asked. “Say there is a chunk of meat. Pirates will have a banquet and eat it, but heroes will share it with other people. I want _all_ the meat!”

I stared at him with a deadpan look, then sighed and shook my head.

“Is that how he defines a hero?” Nami asked.

“Honestly, I should think he would know that heroes are often given gifts _by_ the people they help,” I commented. “The only reason a hero might be _inclined_ to share meat is if they get more than they can eat – which, in Luffy’s case, is impossible. The people who would be giving it away wouldn’t be asking for it back anyway.”

Robin chuckled. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” I replied with a knowing smirk.

“I will let you have all your meat just as long as you do as I tell you!” Jimbei replied.

“Okay,” Luffy replied quickly.

“What? That easy?!” Chopper shrieked.

I rolled my eyes. “He’s our captain and that’s how he thinks; I would think you’d know that by now.” I smirked. “At least now we can get moving.”

“In the simplest terms, I will call for your help so I want you to respond,” Jimbei explained.

“Help you?” Luffy repeated.

“Yes. First, Megalo and I will get caught voluntarily and enter the plaza. While they are paying attention to us, one of you will sneak out of Megalo’s stomach and—“

“Out of his stomach?” Luffy repeated.

“The New Fishman Pirates will have the letter from the Celestial Dragons.”

“Letter?”

“It is something Queen Otohime acquired ten years ago, at the risk of her life, and it will define the future of this island! And they will also have the key to free the King. We need to get our hands on those two things.”

“Nami?” I looked over at her, raising an eyebrow knowingly.

Nami nodded. “I’m good at stealing – I can do it with Robin.”

Robin nodded in agreement.

“All right.” Jimbei nodded. “Once you free the King, I will call on Luffy-kun’s help. And once Luffy-kun emerges gallantly out of Megalo’s body, people will notice that Luffy-kun and I are working together.”

Certainly an interesting way to work around the problem of how fishmen viewed humans, and a good one, too. I nodded in agreement with Jimbei’s plan.

“Princess-sama, you wait somewhere completely safe outside the plaza,” Jimbei added, looking up at Shirahoshi. And after we pass you the letter, flee with the freed King and the princes. Meanwhile, the rest of you, get to the Ryugu Palace now and save your friends. And then hurry to the plaza with them. Now – about how to rescue your friends in the Ryugu Palace…”

Did he have a plan for that, too?

“Figure it out yourself!”

“You don’t care about us, do you?!” Sanji roared.

“We’ll figure it out!” Franky called from the ship.

Jimbei nodded, then looked back at the rest of us. “Once this is set into motion, how do you think the citizens will respond?”

“Nyuu,” Hachi spoke up. “Both the citizens of Fishman Island and the outlaws of the Fishman District will respect Jimbei-san.”

“Uh-huh!” Camie agreed. “So if they find out that Boss trusts Luffy-chin with his life, to save the King, they’ll root for you, Luffy-chin!”

Luffy frowned, considering, as we all stared at him. Our looks must’ve gotten to him, because after a moment he declared, “I’m only doing this because you asked me to, Jimbei! It’s uncomfortable having everybody cheer me on.”

“Yeah, we’re not used to that treatment,” Nami admitted sheepishly.

“I’d fight the king of the devils himself if the mermaids-chan cheered for me!” Sanji cried, dancing about.

I huffed and rolled my eyes, then looked over at Jimbei. “Say, Jimbei, mind if I add something to that plan?”

Jimbei eyed me, frowning. “What do you intend to do, Maria-chan?”

I grinned and pulled out the same rectangular device that I’d removed from my jacket twice before, on our way down to this part of the sea. “I think that the people of Fishman Island would be amazed if you ‘summoned’ a creature or two from your mythologies. I don’t know how they’d react to Kyogre, but I think the Harmony of the Sea would want to make sure that there _is_ harmony in the sea, right?”

“If you can, go ahead and do so.” I could hear the doubt in Jimbei’s voice. “Otherwise, do not make yourself known until the proper time.”

I gave Jimbei a thumbs-up. “You guys go on ahead then – I’m gonna save this as a surprise.”

“You’re not gonna come and help us?” Nami frowned.

“I will – at the plaza. I just want to make sure I make an entrance without getting _caught._ You’ll know it when you see it.”

I snickered. Oh, this was gonna be _fun._


	15. Grand Entrance

**Maria’s POV**

I rode with Jimbei, Megalo, and Robin, Luffy, and Nami – who were hiding in Megalo’s stomach – as far as the main island’s bubble. Jimbei gave me something called a Bubble Coral so that I’d be able to survive the water pressure outside the Sea Forest.

Made of metal I may be, but even I can’t stand the amount of water pressure that exists down here.

Now I was standing on my hoverboard a good distance from the mainland of the island, then pressed down on the PokeBall button on my PokeDex.

“Lugia! I need your help!”

PoeDexes are normally only used for looking at data on certain creatures – creatures that the people on this world should never be able to see. They’re electronic encyclopedias, you see.

Except for in situations like mine.

As perks of the…well, the abilities I remembered over the last two years that I had yet to tell everyone else, I could summon friends that I’d made from other parts of the world. Just give me a way to call them and they’ll come in and help me out.

There was a flash in the water directly below me, and Lugia appeared, floating in the water a few feet below me.

_“What is the problem?”_

I quickly filled Lugia in on the situation on the island, as well as a part of the history that Jimbei had told us. By the time that I had finished, the look on the Legendary’s face said that he was more than ready to jump into the fray and take these guys apart.

 _“That explains why you were met with opposition at the entrance to this place,”_ Lugia said grimly. _“Come. Let us go give these ‘fishmen’ a warm welcome.”_

I could feel the anger in his voice vibrating at the back of my mind. A grin quickly spread across my face, and I dropped off my hoverboard and landed on his back, at the base of his neck.

Lugia grunted, then let out a loud cry and took off from the water, sending up a large spray behind us as we took to the air. Just the slightest of twitches of his wings brought us closer to the mainland – and then the plaza.

I leaned forward, shifting to my armor as I did so. Lugia dipped slightly at the change, but then rose again.

 _“You have changed since we last heard of your appearance in Kalos,”_ Lugia noted.

“I’ve…I’ve seen a lot,” I admitted. “A lot more than anyone really should be.”

My memories…there had been a lot to sort through.

 _“You have grown,”_ Lugia said. _“We will discuss what has happened to you later – let us take care of this problem here first.”_

I nodded in agreement. “Sounds good.”

By the time we arrived at the plaza, things were already in motion.

And by _that,_ I mean that _Sunny_ had just floated into the middle of the plaza, held up by a bubble, and a whale was in the middle of the plaza as three mermen were scrambling to move the king up onto the whale’s back.

And there was a fishman with a hammerhead shark-like face moving to hit them with a giant hammer.

“Lugia!”

Lugia’s cry shook the air as he unleashed a beam of bright blue energy – a Hyper Beam -- that carved into the plaza and the hammerhead fishman flying back. The cry of alarm and amazement that followed only made me grin wider.

“What is that?!”

“It’s the Harmony of the Sea! But how?! It’s nothing more than a myth!”

“I _told_ you that I could bring him, Jimbei!” I called from Lugia’s back.

“Maria-chan?!” Jimbei yelled up from the plaza in shock.

Other fishmen – people standing around the plaza – started calling out in shock as well.

“Is that Fire Storm?!”

“How was she able to find the Harmony of the Sea?!”

The whale took off into the air and shot past me, carrying the king and the three smaller mermen, all looking quite battered. The looks of shock they sent me as they passed only made me grin wider.

“Don’t worry!” I called as they left the area. “We’ve got this!”

Lugia landed next to _Sunny_ as the ship came to a stop on the plaza, right behind Megalo, Shirahoshi, and Jimbei – didn’t Jimbei say that Shirahoshi was going to wait _outside_ the plaza? Something must’ve changed in his original plan.

I slid off Lugia’s back as the others started to get out of the ship, and the fishmen standing on the cliffs outside the plaza started calling questions at us, begging for answers – to occupying the palace, to wanting to destroy the island, and where the mermaids had disappeared to.

“Are you friends or foes, Straw Hat?!” a fishman yelled. “Answer us!”

I moved to stand next to Robin and Jimbei, behind Chopper in his reindeer form, as Luffy moved to stand with us.

“Are we friends or foes?” Luffy repeated. “You’ll have to decide on your own!”

I smirked and cracked my knuckles as Lugia glared down at the large army that we had landed in the middle of.

I quickly scanned the group to gauge our odds.

Besides the fishmen that stood in front of us, the army was mostly fishmen, with a scattering of humans…

…humans in _collars_ and _chains._

My eyes narrowed as Lugia growled.

Sanji and Zoro moved to stand behind Luffy in an attacking formation. I don’t know how they managed to get Zoro, Usopp, and Brook out of the situation they’d been in, but I was glad they managed to get out all right.

“Did I do okay, Jimbei?” Luffy looked over at the fishman.

“It wasn’t so disastrous, considering it was Luffy,” Nami added casually.

Jimbei nodded. “Although it did not go exactly as we had planned. So you saved your friends at the Ryugu Palace successfully.”

“Straw!” A familiar starfish leapt out of the ship – which was coated, actually. Den does fast work.

“Pappagg!” Luffy caught the starfish. “I’m happy to see you again!”

“But, but, I’ve had quite a few brushes with death because of them!” Pappagg pointed at Zoro and Usopp accusingly.

“What did you expect when you became friends with us?” I called back, laughing.

“I expected – ehhh?! Where did you find such a fearsome Sea King?! It looks like the Harmony of the Sea!”

 _“I am,”_ Lugia replied, his voice rumbling at the back of my mind.

Brook wandered over to Shirahoshi, only to get beaned in the head by Nami’s fist when he asked A Certain Question.

Luffy put Pappagg on the ground then grinned at all of us. “We’re all together again finally!”

“Nami-swan! I rescued those idiots!” Sanji called.

I snorted and shook my head as Jimbei turned and looked up at Lugia behind us.

“Incredible.” Jimbei clearly sounded awed. “I did not think that anyone could be capable of summoning a creature from our legends…”

“Brook’s got a new ability?”

I turned and looked over at the others as they quickly filled Luffy in on what had happened up at Ryugu Palace and how Zoro, Usopp, and Brook had managed to get out of their imprisonment and meet up with the others. Apparently, Brook could leave his body and wander around as a spirit whenever he wished?

“Brook’s new ability sounds awesome!” Chopper’s expression shifted to seriousness. “Anyway, those guys got their captain beaten by Luffy. How come they don’t seem worried?”

I looked over at the fishmen that were lined up in front of a circular platform in the center of the plaza. The ones that had visible mouths were smirking. Even the fishman Lugia had _blown away_ with a Hyper Beam was still standing somehow.

And there was no sign of Hody Jones – Luffy must’ve slammed into him before Lugia and I arrived.

“You’re right,” Robin agreed. “It’s odd.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. “Lugia, I hope you’re ready at a moment’s notice.”

Lugia huffed in reply.

“Here!” Nami held a piece of paper up to Shirahoshi. “It’s the letter from the Celestial Dragons.”

Shirahoshi quickly took it in her hands. “Thank you all! This is the hope of Fishman Island, that Mother-sama left behind.”

“But I think it’s not safe for Cry-hoshi,” Luffy spoke up. A change in nickname? Hm.

Jimbei nodded. “Her capture was not a part of the plan. Neither was asking her to escape on her own.”

“Luffy-sama, what did you just call me?” Shirahoshi looked over at Luffy. “You were calling me Coward before.”

“Yeah, it’s not like I know everything but you’re not as timid as you were before,” Luffy replied. “So I’ll call you Cry-hoshi from now on!”

“It’s understandable why someone would hate those who they think wronged them,” Robin said. “That man who insulted you – that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

“But a coward couldn’t have been so strong and borne such hardship on her own for so long,” Nami added.

“She is right,” Jimbei said as I nodded in agreement. “Princess Shirahoshi, it must have been hard for you through the years.”

“I’m sorry. I caused you trouble because I kept it secret.”

I frowned at Shirahoshi’s words. Kept _what_ secret? I must’ve missed something by coming in later than everyone else.

“It’s okay,” Jimbei replied. “I like you just the way you are now. No passing on hatred to the next generation. That’s what those brave heroes were trying to teach us. There is a small sprout that bloomed in your heart. If all people on the island share it and think the same way you do one day, there will be no more fighting and the conflict between fishmen and humans will be over. I don’t think the years you suffered through were meaningless. You must have been trying so hard to protect that small sprout single-handedly, day after day. But let us protect it for you this time!”

I grinned and gave a firm nod in agreement, giving a thumbs-up. “Yeah. We got this.”

Shirahoshi teared up instantly. “Thank you so much!”

“She may not be a coward but she sure is a crybaby!” Luffy commented.

The fishmen standing on the cliffs above us started cheering loudly. “Straw Hat, beat the crap out of them!”

And then an explosion of stone came from near the platform. I turned sharply to face the wall of dust that rose up.

“Vander Decken was useless!” Hody declared. “I needed him to get rid of Shirahoshi.”

“Captain Hody!” some of the fishmen exclaimed. “Captain’s back!”

“Tch.” My eyes narrowed; of course it would be harder than that to take care of these guys.

But then I saw Hody as the dust cleared, and I couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved.

Before, when we’d seen him, Hody had appeared much more youthful. Now, with his body standing before us as incredibly muscular and bare-chested – with a scar running across the center of his chest – and his hair having gone white, he looked more like a middle-aged man whose hair had gone white prematurely.

Was he aging at an unusually fast rate? He didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered by it.

Hody started walking forward, onto the platform in the middle of the plaza. “She’s the mermaid princess with that troublesome power. So I needed to take out Shirahoshi as soon as possible, but you people duped me completely.”

My eyes narrowed. Lugia lowered his head a little in order to get a better look at the guy, and growled something under his breath. Chopper looked up at him sharply at his masked words, and I nodded in response.

“Jimbei. I should have noticed that you gave in without resistance. You’re quite taken with those humans, aren’t you?! I despise your kind the most!” Hody shrugged. “Fisher Tiger, who you grew up together with in the Fishman District, and Arlong, who was like a brother to you, were both beaten or killed by humans! But instead of seeking revenge for them, you joined hands with humans! You are as gutless as Neptune!”

Now _I_ was the one growling under my breath. Man, this guy had a lot of guts for saying that to our faces.

“When I become king, I’ll change everything! This year’s World Summit is the perfect opportunity! I’m gonna kill the human kings from all over the world at Mariejois, and the legend of the terrifying underwater kingdom will begin!”

“He can damn well try but I doubt it’d go over well,” I muttered.

“We’ll drag all humans in the world into the water and enslave them! Eventually, no one will be able to stand against fishmen. Even in the world of pirates!”

His talk of worlds was setting off a darker round of memories at the back of my mind, causing my expression to go sterner and sterner. _Clearly,_ this guy didn’t know what he was getting into with us right in front of him, and _me_ with my ability to find more friends that I’d made in the past and bring them here.

Hody laughed. “All pirates will fall to their knees before us – the New Fishman Pirates!” He motioned to the collared humans who stood in his army. “Look at these human pirates with confidence in their ability to fight! You will all be like them, Straw Hats!”

Lugia snorted.

“I’ll be the one who becomes King of the Pirates!”

My eyebrows rose up. “Here we go.”

“The King of the Pirates?” Luffy repeated.

Hody laughed. “You’re just a band of ten half-assed pirates. You can’t do anything! We have 100,000 on our side!”

The roar from the army surrounding us was nearly deafening.

“Kill them all, New Fishman Pirates!”

The fishmen and humans started converging on us instantly, causing Chopper and Pappagg to cry in alarm and terror at the size of the group coming at us. The others reacted as I expected them to – Robin making a comment and Usopp reacting with a screech, Brook making a joke, Nami hiding behind Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro, and Franky preparing to unleash one of his weapons from inside _Sunny_ somewhere.

I looked back at Lugia and raised an eyebrow. “Are you ready to fight against a group this size?”

The Legendary scoffed. _“I am always prepared for battle.”_

Jimbei stiffened. “What—“

 _“I am a telepathic being; I am capable of speaking in the minds of whomever I choose.”_ Lugia looked Jimbei in the eye. _“There is much discord here, and I do not like it. I shall help you reset the balance here.”_

Jimbei stared, awed, but he quickly refocused and nodded, determined. “I welcome your assistance, Harmony of the Sea. We will need all the help we can get against them.

Lugia nodded his head in return, then shifted his gaze and frowned. _“What is your captain doing, Maria?”_

“Hmm?” I followed Lugia’s gaze, then stared with an incredulous expression. “What the scrap is he thinking, just walking out away from us and towards them like that?!”

“L-Luffy-kun?” Jimbei was confused too.

Luffy got out into the middle of a large group of pirates that was coming at us…and then the air _shifted_.

My eyes widened as the people who had been about to attack Luffy suddenly all dropped at once, out cold – and not just around him, either; the unconscious spread partially around our ship as well. We’d been left untouched.

 _“…I can see why you are willing to follow a man such as he, Guildmaster.”_ Lugia’s voice was shaking with a tone that I’d rarely heard from him – if at all. Speaking about Kyogre got him like that – speaking about _Manaphy_ got him like that. It was rare that a human managed to impress him this much.

“That was Haki!” Robin identified.

“He’s gotten much stronger in just two years,” Jimbei noted.

I nodded. “Conqueror’s Haki. So he finally managed to get a handle on it after spending two years with Ray-san.” I grinned. “It’s a pressure beyond what you’re capable of, Lugia.”

Lugia nodded in agreement.

“That was so cool, Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi said.

“You’re Hody, right?” Luffy’s focus was on the fishman standing on the platform, behind his officers. “I guess I have to kick your ass. You can become king of whatever you want in any country. But there can only be one King of the Pirates!”

I grinned widely. “It’ll just be like old times, Lugia. Taking on Monster Houses in bigger and badder dungeons.” I looked back at him. “You ready for this?”

Lugia nodded, a determined glint in his eye. _“I would like to see how you have improved since I have last seen you.”_

I laughed in response. “And the same to you! Let’s do this!”


	16. Showing Off

**Maria’s POV**

The fishmen didn’t want to fight us at first, but then one of Hody’s officers started giving some stirring speech in order to get them moving and try to tear us to pieces.

None of us moved while he did, but I’m sure that Lugia was preparing strategies at the back of his mind in order to take out large groups of these guys.

Zoro shed his robe part-way and tied the sleeves off around his middle before tying that black bandanna of his around his head. “Luffy! I wish you left more than 50,000 of them for me.”

Luffy looked back. “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t get so excited,” Sanji replied. “I’ll go for 30,000! Okay, Moss Head?”

“Shut up, Mr. Nosebleed,” Zoro scoffed.

Sanji kicked a fishman who was starting to rise up, and Zoro gripped his swords in response.

“Here we go.” I grinned at Lugia as Brook called something about doing a song at the start of the battle. I held up my right hand, coating it in flames. “Let’s see what these guys think of Storm and Fire when we move as one!”

Lugia threw back his head and let out a loud cry as the fishmen pirates started to make a run at us.

“Let’s do it!” Luffy barked. He leapt up into the air, yelled “Gear Third!,” and inflated an arm before slamming it into the army, sending them flying in all directions.

“All right, let’s join him!” Jimbei barked.

I let out a laugh as the flames sparked from both of my hands and spread up my armored arms to my shoulders. “I think Luffy’s got the right idea! Let’s blow them away!”

Lugia’s wings flapped once, strongly, creating a torrent of winds that turned into a Twister and started moving towards the fishmen that were coming at us.

“That Twister’s not finished yet!” Fire extended from my arms; I swung one, then the other, hooking my flames into the spinning winds and turning it into a tornado of _fire_ and sending the fishmen running in all directions, screaming as victims were caught up in its flaming funnel of destruction.

“Ha! Take that!” I grinned and fistpumped as other fishmen stared at us in shock.

“108 Caliber Phoenix!”

Zoro seemed to have a similar idea – his slashing winds cut a swath through the fishmen that left us with more of a playing field.

 _“A Bisharp,”_ Lugia noted, nodding.

“I thought of him as more of a Gallade,” I pointed out. “He’s got the coloring for it.”

_“Perhaps. But he gives the impression that he is made of blades.”_

I heard the sound of bones cracking as fishmen cried in pain. Robin’s work.

_“…and she seems more of a Ghost or Dark-Type. A Mismagius, perhaps?”_

I hummed. “Maybe.”

A fishman broke out of the tornado as it dissipated, covered in burns but somehow still standing. “What kind of a monster is that with her?!”

“Who cares?!” another shot back. “We have to do something about that dumb animal anyway. Separate them and see how well they can do without each other!”

Lugia let out a bellowing roar that caused a number of fishmen to flinch back in terror. I burst out laughing.

“Come and try!” I roared. “Lugia and I are partners! Anyone who says anything differently is going to get their butts kicked so hard they’ll think they’re babies!”

Venus flytraps started appearing all over the battlefield, causing fishmen to start screaming in terror, and fishmen were blown back from Chopper as he fought like a karate master in a rather fluffy form.

 _“Nuzleaf and Stantler,”_ Lugia noted as the fishmen started coming at us. He reared back and we created a second Twister of flames, sending more fishmen flying – but fewer than we’d managed to catch last time. They were getting smarter at avoiding that one.

“They’ve got the nose and antlers for it,” I agreed as Usopp laughed over his Pop Greens. The thunderstrike that followed as I threw a wave of fire at an approaching line of fishmen made me smirk knowingly. “And her?”

_“Castform.”_

“No, no – Nami’s too elegant for that.” I made a face. “She’s more like a Dragonair. With a dragon horde to match.”

_“Ah.”_

“I think it’s about time that I unveil that!”

I turned and looked back at Franky, raising an eyebrow. “Unveil what?”

“What are they, Franky?” Chopper asked.

“There are two new weapons on _Sunny!”_ Franky replied. “Who wants to ride along?”

“What?! New weapons?!” Usopp and Chopper quickly scrambled over.

I rolled my eyes and smirked. “Sounds like whatever you’ve got up your sleeves is gonna be a good one, Franky! Show us what ya got!”

“You got it, lil sis! You wanna ride too?” Franky grinned at me as Nami came over.

“Nah. Lugia can give me a ride if he wants – besides!” I grinned widely. “I’ve got weapons of my own that you guys haven’t seen yet, but everyone at Marineford definitely saw hints of!”

“Oooh!” Usopp and Chopper looked over at me with wide eyes. “Can we see?!”

“Depends on how rowdy these guys get.” I grinned back at them. I’m already in my armor, so we’re one step closer to that than I was before!”

“Yeah!”

“See if you can save the giant mermaid in the middle of the plaza from this – Water Shot!”

My grin dropped from my face instantly at Hody’s shout; I turned my head sharply as a large sphere of water came flying in towards Shirahoshi’s face. “Oh no you—“

Another shot flew up and stopped Hody’s with a watery explosion; I quickly looked around for its source and locked eyes with Jimbei, who stood ready with another glob of water forming on his hand.

“He was able to deflect Hody’s destructive Water Shot with his own?!” screeched one of Hody’s officers – a little red fellow with large teeth. “Jimbei’s a monster in his own right!”

“I don’t know how you’ve attained that much power, but your Fishman Karate is very unskilled!” Jimbei called.

Some of the fishmen near us started panicking about fighting Jimbei, exclaiming that his bounty has exceeded 400 million now after his resignation from the Warlords.

“Shut up and bring it on!” Jimbei barked back. “You have to kill us all in order to kill the princess!”

I threw back my head and laughed. “Man, these guys don’t know what they’re getting into! They’re not going to get close enough to fire a finishing shot!”

“Why are you hesitating?” Hody demanded. “There is nowhere for you to run!”

“Three Swords Style…Black Rope Dragon Twister!”

At Zoro’s declaration, I saw a large tornado of cutting winds spring up from his position, taking fishmen into it and spitting them out with large cuts cutting across them.

 _“I stand my decision that he is a Bisharp,”_ Lugia said pointedly as our own second Fire Twister faded.

“Sky Walk!”

What the—

“Sanji’s walking on air?!” My jaw dropped as Sanji kicked his way upwards, towards a horde of mermen who were a part of Hody’s crew.

“So cool!” Luffy called. “It’s just like those guys from two years ago!”

Now that he mentioned it…it _was_ kind of like those guys who’d posed as shipwrights in Water 7 – CP9 was it? What did they call it then, Moon Walk?

Well, Sanji’s name was definitely cooler.

“Diable Jambe Poele a Frire Spectre!”

Sanji’s legs became aflame as he slammed his feet right into the faces of the mermen who came close.

 _“Blaziken,”_ Lugia decided.

I hummed in agreement.

“Hey, you!” Luffy turned to look at Hody. “It’s gonna be over soon, so just stay still!” He started running towards Hody and his officers. “Doesn’t matter if there are 100,000 or a million! We’ll just beat them all!”

I laughed in agreement and grinned up at Lugia. “Let’s keep going! These guys haven’t seen everything that we’re capable of yet!”

Lugia roared his signature cry in agreement, and the fishmen near us hesitated to get closer than they already were.

“Why are you stopping?” a fishman called out. One of them stepped out of the crowd in front of us – a muscular mermaid with the tail of an eel, carrying a whip. “It’s just an untamed beast! If we separate them, we can use that creature on our side!”

“Oh! Beast Tamer! You’ll get it for sure!” another cried.

“Beat Tamer?” I raised an eyebrow as more explosions went off around us – the others doing their work in taking out the fishmen; I didn’t need to keep track of what they were up to. “You’ve got something to do with those Sea Kings that met us at the gate, don’t you?”

“I do!” The so-called Beast Tamer grinned, his teeth sharp like most of the other fishmen I’d seen around here. “They follow Hody’s orders, but first they had to be tamed by me! And I will do the same if the creature that stands behind you!”

Lugia huffed at that, disbelieving.

“Sure,” I said dryly. “Like _you’d_ be able to tame the Harmony of the Sea. Lugia, what do you think?”

Lugia blasted the lot of them with a Dragon Pulse. The blue-purple beam of energy sent not only the “beast tamer,” but the rest of the fishmen behind him flying into one of the walls of the plaza without any chance to defend themselves.

“That’s what I thought.” I grinned widely.

“Go and take out the princess!”

My grin dropped off my face as a group of fishmen tried to run past us and towards Shirahoshi as a group of fishmen took up hand-held cannons and aimed them at her. Brook went straight for them –

And I moved in front of the group that was charging past me and Lugia.

“Hey, don’t think you’re getting at her so easily!” I clenched my right fist tightly. “You’re not getting past me!”

As I spoke, my right hand disappeared into my arm as it reconfigured into something else entirely – a cannon called a Buster, one that I’d used a few times at Marineford.

I took aim at the group and forced a large amount of energy into the barrel, causing it to glow brightly before I shot a large sphere of bright orange energy nearly as big as myself at the oncoming morons.

“Charged Buster Shot!”

The energy sphere shot right in the midst of the group of fishmen and exploded, sending them flying in every direction and leaving me standing there unharmed. I lowered my Buster, smirking at the knocked-out fishmen that were left behind.

“That’s what you get for trying to cross me,” I said with a grin.

Lugia let out another cry and shot off another Dragon Pulse, sending more fishmen scattering as a result of it. They clearly weren’t expecting a creature to be capable of firing off a beam attack of any kind.

But I knew. I _knew_ what Lugia was capable of and I was looking forward to what was going to happen if we got some bigger game.

“Mil Fluer! Gigantesco Mano – Stomp!”

I looked over at Robin’s voice, and my jaw dropped.

 _Huge_ feet were slamming into the army in front of Shirahoshi, preventing them from getting close. Robin stood near them, arms crossed over her chest in the usual way.

And then there came a brightly-colored group of fishmen who definitely looked like a group that you didn’t want to get into physical contact with.

 _“Hold it right there!”_ Franky yelled from inside _Sunny._

Robin looked back as the giant feet dissolved into flower petals; I blinked a couple times, curious.

“Soldier Dock System Channel 4!”

Something in the ship started moving; the numbers on the side changed from 3 to 4, then started to open.

“Destroy the ship!” some fishmen started to run towards the opening; I prepared to shoot at them with my Buster in order to keep them from getting far, but then something lit up inside the bowels of the ship.

“Black Rhino—“

Franky suddenly came _barreling_ out of the ship on a land vehicle that I can only describe as Franky’s version of a motorcycle. The head of a rhino made up the front, with a large “4” painted on the monster’s nose.

“—FR-U 4!” Franky declared.

He promptly mowed down a few fishmen standing near the ship and came to a spinning stop before pulling his goggles up and smirking at us.

“SO COOL!”

I laughed at Luffy’s reaction as Lugia stared with a befuddled expression.

_“…how often does he do this?”_

Franky’s an inventor; he comes up with all kinds of cool stuff.” I grinned up at Lugia.

_“…then I amend my previous thought that your friend is a Golurk; he is a Rotom.”_

“What did you say about venom?” Franky let his goggles settle back into place and shot towards the colorful fishmen that were approaching Robin. “Sting this steel monster if you can!”

I burst out laughing as Franky bowled straight through them. “Strike!”

Franky came to a stop in front of Robin. “It’s super cool, isn’t it?!”

A fishman started to come up on his ride with a large mace, but he got shot by something else that emerged from _Sunny_ – a tank with what looked like the head of a dinosaur.

Chopper popped up from the entrance. “Hi!”

“The new number! Franky declared. “Channel 5! Brachio-Tank 5 is here!”

“You’ve been busy!” I exclaimed as Luffy geeked out over the tank’s appearance.

Chopper started yelling out orders, causing the tank to turn this way and that and shoot at more of the fishmen that were nearby.

“We’d better step up our game!” I said with a grin. “Lugia, you—“

“Come out, Kraken!” Hody roared.

I stopped short, blinked once, then snorted.

 _“Kraken?”_ Lugia repeated. _“Surely he doesn’t mean—“_

Sure enough, a familiar, fishy beast was making his way over one part of the cliffs surrounding the plaza, and came to a stop above the rest of us.

“There are only ten of them! Just crush them all!” Hody exclaimed.

I, on the other hand, burst out laughing loud enough the fishmen looked at me like I was insane.

“Wh-what are you laughing for?!” a fishman demanded. “The Kraken is—“

The sea monster stopped in the middle of coming down into the plaza.

“What are you waiting for?” Hody demanded. “Kill them already!”

I looked over in his direction and grinned widely as he glared at me with open suspicion.

“I brought you all the way from the North Pole! You’re my slave! You have to work for me!”

The grin dropped. “Is that what he thinks?”

Lugia growled, causing what remaining conscious fishmen near us to back up quickly.

It must’ve been enough for Surume, because he leapt into the plaza and landed right in front of me, Lugia, _Sunny,_ Megalo, and Shirahoshi. He started lashing his tentacles out in all directions, forcing Lugia and I to take to the air, with me on Lugia’s back, in order to avoid getting hit.

We barely managed to get out of the way.

“Oh, hey! Surume!” Luffy called.

The Kraken stopped short.

“It’s me! Surume!”

Surume didn’t move. He wasn’t acting like he recognized Luffy, but he wasn’t acting like he was going to be going into an all-out brawl, either.

Lugia glided over to another part of the plaza, looking down at the fishmen. None of them were attacking yet, but even the slightest flaps in Lugia’s wings were sending down barrages of air that were causing the fishmen to scatter at the force of it.

“Oh? Don’t you remember me? How could you forget?!” Luffy called. “You became my pet for a while. I’m your friend!”

Surume stared down at Luffy.

“Let me ride on you again!”

“This is gonna be interesting.” I leaned over a little, watching the exchange. The grin was coming back to my face. “I bet ya Hody’s not gonna expect things to turn around on him this quick!”

And then Surume slammed down into the ground, bringing up a large cloud of dust.

For a moment, I thought that Surume had turned around and done as Hody had asked, but then I heard Luffy’s laughter. Lugia swung around in order to get a better look at what was going on.

“That tickles!” Luffy laughed, hanging between two tentacles. “Stop! Surume!”

The kraken had a large grin on his face as he plopped Luffy on his head. I couldn’t help but laugh at it.

“All right, Surume!” Luffy called. “Let’s go!”

And then Surume turned right around and started trampling the fishmen as they cried out in alarm at the kraken’s betrayal.

 _“He would make for an interesting Trainer or Guildmaster,”_ Lugia commented as Luffy directed Surume to turn around and stop near the ship and Shirahoshi.

“Mhm!” I nodded in agreement.

“Listen, Surume! Stay here and protect Cry-hoshi!”

Surume nodded, positioning himself around and above _Sunny_ and Shirahoshi, and Lugia landed on the ground just outside of the tentacles. Lugia himself may have been large, but he was only about 17 feet long – or 5.2 meters. Surume was still a giant compared to us.

“I can’t believe you knew the Kraken!” Jimbei exclaimed. “I’m so impressed! You have so many friends!” He grinned.

His gruff voice didn’t make it _seem_ like he was impressed, but you could tell he was anyway.

“Um, thank you for doing this, Surume-sama.” Shirahoshi looked up at the giant octopus. Surume looked embarrassed at the praise.

“There are still a lot of them,” Luffy commented.

“Unfortunately.” I slid off Lugia’s back. “But I think they’re starting to get the message that we’re not a group that’ll be beaten so easily.”

Jimbei laughed in agreement. “Indeed! We should be able to finish them quickly.”

“Time to make sure they _actually_ get the message,” I said with a wide grin. “Hody hasn’t entered the fray yet – let’s get him down off that platform of his and see how he likes getting clobbered!”

“Yeah!” Luffy turned to face the oncoming group of fishmen and grinned. “Let’s go!”


	17. Battle Chaos

**Maria’s POV**

Out of everything that Franky’s pulled, the _last_ thing I was expecting from him was that he turned his bike and the tank into a giant mecha of himself.

Franky, Usopp, Chopper, and Nami being distracted enough by their awesomeness to get themselves stuck in a sinkhole by one of Hody’s officers, sure – I should’ve known that the little red guy with the big teeth was able to do something like that – but merging the two machines into one? That was something else.

“Iron Pirate General Franky!” Franky declared as his mecha posed.

“Awesome!” Usopp and Chopper cheered.

“What the hell is that?!” yelled the fishmen who were still conscious.

“…yeah, he’s definitely a Rotom,” I said to Lugia while Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy freaked over the robot…and Nami stood there, unimpressed. I was more amazed and amused by what Franky had done than anything else. This kind of tech wasn’t common around here yet—Franky was ahead of his time by _decades._

But then again, so is Vegapunk.

Franky started beating up fishmen left and right, unsheathed a sword he called _Franken_ of all things, and started spinning while he popped out of the opening in the center and mowed any nearby fishmen down with cannon fire.

“Get them while they’re distracted!” A group of fishmen started running for myself and Lugia.

“I don’t think so!” Flames covered my left arm, merging into a sphere that spun in the palm of my hand. “White Flare, 25 Percent! Fire Spark!”

The sphere of fire exploded in the center of the group coming at us, sending them scattering as they yelled in pain at the burns and built-in electricity the flames carried with them.

“What kind of fire attack was that?!” someone exclaimed.

“Magic is as good of an answer as you’re ever gonna get!” I called back. “Because even I don’t know how my fire can do that!”

“Ehhhhh?!”

Lugia bellowed, causing the group to scatter to another blast of Dragon Pulse. He hadn’t used Aeroblast – yet – but I’m pretty sure that if given the chance he would and would end up causing more damage to this place than he would just in the water. He’d used Aeroblast once here already – when we _were_ in the water. It was only a matter of time before something would come along and make him use it again.

I knew that Usopp, Nami, and Chopper were showing off across the battlefield in their own ways, of course – the sound of wind blasting in out of nowhere and the sight of bamboo stalks rising up out of the ground at a fast rate weren’t entirely unexpected.

Although, hearing Chopper’s shout of “That’s a pain-in-the-ass- _monster_ to you!” couldn’t help but make me laugh.

“Kraken!”

Hody’s voice suddenly cut across the battlefield.

“Good job, considering it was you. You gained their favor so slickly and caught Shirahoshi!”

“Is that slimy eel _really_ trying to turn that to his advantage?” I asked with a scowl. “Yeesh; he’s really asking for a pounding.”

“Squeeze her to death!” Hody ordered.

“I don’t think so!” I turned and aimed my Buster at Hody and his platform, then fired a Charged Buster Shot that cut across the battlefield. Fishmen scrambled out of the way of it—

And the energy sphere hit Hody square in the face, causing an explosion that brought up a cry of alarm from the fishmen.

“Captain Hody!!”

“Threatening a living creature will get you nowhere!” I roared. “Don’t even think about doing it casually!”

“We know where to find your brother-ch!” another officer called – a fishman with multiple arms like Hachi. “Don’t tell us you want Captain Hody to find him and kill him-ch!”

Brother?!

Surume growled defensively, unmoving.

Jimbei growled. “I can’t believe it! He was obeying Hody because his brother was taken as a hostage!”

I let out a low snarl of my own. “That is _not_ going to stand, no way! Like scrap he’s gonna get away with this!”

The dust cleared from where I’d hit Hody, revealing him standing mostly unharmed. A part of his chest and the furry scarf-looking thing he was wearing looked a little scorched. “I’ll tell you one last time! Squeeze Shirahoshi to death!”

Surume looked like he didn’t want to do it. He bowed his head and started to move his tentacles to surround Shirahoshi and squeeze her—

With a blast of wind, Lugia was off the ground in Surume’s face, nearly blowing me over when he took off. _“No. Do not listen to that one; he is no longer your Trainer in any sense of the word.”_

Surume paused for a second and growled something.

 _“Trust the people who have allied themselves with you,”_ Lugia said seriously.

Surume hissed in response.

“Surume!”

Surume looked up at Luffy’s bark; Lugia and I looked over at him.

“So you were doing everything he says in order to save your brother’s life?”

Surume nodded.

“I know how you feel. Is it your younger brother or older brother?”

I winced a bit; of course. Luffy’d had a brother too – Ace. The man at Marineford that we hadn’t been able to save.

Luffy looked back and grinned. “Let me try to save his life, too!”

Surume let out a surprised noise as Lugia started to land near me again. I smirked; Luffy was always surprising allies who weren’t a part of the crew.

“Did you forget? I’m your friend!”

The grin dropped from Luffy’s face as he started moving towards the other fishmen; Surume started tearing up.

“Don’t worry, buddy.” I looked up at Surume. “Luffy’s got this.”

Surume nodded quickly as Shirahoshi moved to comfort the giant octopus. I turned my attention to Lugia.

“Time to make sure these guys’ numbers get cut even more, eh?” My tone was teasing; I was looking forward to seeing these guys get what was coming to them.

Lugia reared back as Luffy went for Hody, Zoro and Sanji intervening when the giant hammerhead fishman and the multiarmed fishman tried to knock him down.

Lugia unleashed another Twister on the battlefield, sending some of the few fishmen still standing scattering at the attack as I watched Luffy out of the corner of my eye.

A large grin crossed my face when he kicked Hody in the face. “Heh. Things are gonna get _really_ interesting around here really quickly, that’s for sure!”

“I don’t know why but I’m full of fight right now!” Luffy roared.

I laughed in response, then fired a couple shots from my Buster at some fishmen that had managed to avoid Lugia’s Twister. “He’s not the only one! We’ll be able to get these guys’ clocks cleaned in no time at this rate!”

And then the cheering from the fishmen and merfolk watching us turned to screams of alarm, causing Lugia and I to pause at the sound.

“What’s happening?!”

“How is _Noah_ moving?!”

“Noah?” I repeated, blinking.

 _“There is the bow of a wooden ship rising over the horizon.”_ Lugia pointed with a wing towards something out in the sky. I jumped onto my hoverboard in order to get a better look at what he was pointing at.

I could _not_ believe what I was seeing.

“What business does a ship that size have of being down here?!” I demanded in alarm.

There was a large – I guess the only way to describe it was _ark-like_ – ship bearing down on the bubble, moving up its sides. It looked _old_ – like it had been sunken down here for _centuries,_ long enough for plant life to grow on its curled figurehead and the bow of the ship. There were anchors dangling from it, too – large chains, in fact. It didn’t look like it should have been moving _at all._

“This is bad.” I looked over at Lugia. “If that thing crashes into the bubble, the whole thing’s gonna pop and this whole kingdom’s gonna be done for – and us along with it, probably!”

Lugia huffed in agreement, and the ground shook suddenly as Surume pounded a group of fishmen into the ground. _“Something will have to be—“_

“Straw Hat!” Hody roared. “Do you know what Fishman Karate is?!”

I turned just as Hody hit Luffy in the head, causing his head to bounce back as the fishmen cheered about Hody knocking his head off.

“It’s not gonna work!” Luffy called. “Because I’m made of rubber!”

“Something tells me that either Hody doesn’t know about that or he’s using himself as a distraction to keep the rest of us from going up there and doing something about it,” I said, pointing upwards. I moved down to land on the ground; I definitely couldn’t do something about that ship’s size, not yet.

“Your skill is nothing compared to Jimbei’s!” Luffy taunted.

“Of course!” Jimbei called. “That’s why you shouldn’t depend on fake power!”

“Fake power?” I blinked a couple times. “Okay, I think I’m missing something here. Jimbei, what do you mean?”

“Head: Hardening!” Luffy called.

“Hody and his crew have been taking something to increase their power,” Jimbei explained to me as Hody brought a group of fishmen with turtle shells in front of him to block Luffy’s no-doubt Haki-imbued blow. “It has been taking time off their lives as well – no doubt that is the reason for Hody’s present appearance.”

“You mean that he looks like a middle-aged man,” I said flatly.

Luffy’s head hit one of the turtle shells with the sound of a gong, causing them to fall stunned as Hody moved to kick Luffy in the head. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Luffy’s arm turned shiny and black before catching Hody’s leg, then leaping up and catching him in the back of the head with a shiny black leg.

“Exactly.” Jimbei nodded.

“Shark Arrows!”

I glanced over at Hody started flinging drops of water at Luffy who dodged them with unusual, almost practiced ease.

“And it’s also why Hody can’t withstand Luffy’s Armament Haki, or figure out a way to outthink his Observation Haki,” I observed.

“Quite so,” Jimbei confirmed. “Hody’s Fishman Karate is powerful, but also incredibly unskilled. If he had the experience behind the age he wears, _then_ I would be more concerned about Luffy facing against him. But as it is, Hody has very little knowledge in what he is doing.”

“So cool, Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi exclaimed.

“Gum Gum Bullet!”

Luffy punched Hody in the gut with a black fist, sending the fishman flying into the plaza’s outer cliff wall, causing an avalanche as an after-effect that sent the fishmen screaming in terror.

“He said that humans were weaker than fishmen,” I noted, raising an eyebrow. “If he thinks he needs to take Energy Steroids in order to take us out – and then ends up getting beaten by Luffy on top of that – clearly he needs to look over his priorities again.”

“Granted, you are all unusual humans,” Jimbei pointed out.

“True. But he still wasn’t expecting us to have this much strength of heart or of will.”

Lugia chuckled at my commented as Jimbei smirked a little. _“Indeed not.”_

“Luffy-sama is unbelievably strong!” Shirahoshi marveled as Surume trembled next to her.

“Something tells me we ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” I called up with a grin.

A shadow quickly spread across the plaza – and _there_ was the ship that Lugia had spotted earlier.

“What is it?” Jimbei asked as the fighting paused in the plaza.

I pointed up. “Yeah, uh…Lugia noticed it about a minute ago – there’s a giant ship moving around the bubble.”

“A giant ship?” Jimbei looked up, and his eyes widened sharply. If fishmen could go pale, he probably would have. “ _Noah_! How did it get away from the Fishman District?!”

“That ship is part of the Fishman District?!” I repeated in surprise. That ship was _really_ pressing against the double-bubble layer around the island now. “How is it moving? It doesn’t look like it’s supposed to.”

“It’s _not.”_ Jimbei looked back at me worriedly. “It’s an ancient relic from our ancient histories; it’s not supposed to be moving at _all._ Why is it now?”

“Once the ship hits, the whole island will be destroyed!” cried one of the fishmen near us in the plaza.

His cry was followed by others.

“Who’s operating it?!”

“I don’t think it has an engine!”

There came cries from the people on the cliffs around the plaza; they started disappearing from sight in droves as they called to each other to get off the island _now._

Some of the fishmen in the plaza – the still-conscious ones, at least – quickly started to do the same.

And then someone fell screaming from _Noah._ It took me a moment to recognize him.

“Wadatsumi!” I yelped.

Luckily, the Sea Bonze didn’t hit where we happened to be standing; his head collided with the fishmen who were fleeing instead. He fell onto his face, then sat up, rubbing his head.

“Ouch! I slipped!” Wadatsumi complained.

“You’re Wadatsumi – working for Decken!” exclaimed one of Hody’s officers – the purple and blue-striped guy without a visible mouth.

Wadatsumi didn’t seem to have heard him – he stood up and waved at _Noah._ “Captain Vander Decken! I fell off!”

What the—

“Vander Decken’s on that thing?!” I looked up sharply at _Noah._

“Stop the ship! I don’t wanna die!”

Well, _that_ tears it. If that stupid stalker-fishman wanted to throw an ancient relic at the island and kill a ton of people in the process, he wasn’t gonna do it on _my_ watch.

“What’s going on here?!”  Apparently, the purple and blue fishman echoed some of my thoughts.

“Decken?!” Hody exclaimed from where a hit from Luffy had tossed him. “That crazy pirate! This is not a part of the plan!”

“He’s still standing?!” Luffy exclaimed. “He must be tough if he’s still moving after my Armament Haki!”

Vander Decken’s grating laugh echoed through the air. _::Do you hear me, Shirahoshi?::_

Shirahoshi gulped. “Th-that must be—“

“Princess Shirahoshi—“ Jimbei looked downright _furious._ “Don’t tell me Decken threw the _Noah_ like he threw those letters and axes!”

I instantly started to reach for my PokeDex, but Lugia put a wing in front of me. _“Wait.”_

_::I’ve been loving you for ten years – since you were just a little kid. There is no one who could love you like I do in all the wide world!::_

“Because you’re STALKING HER YOU MORON!” I bellowed, causing some near me to look over in alarm. Lugia had a look on his face that suggested he’d dealt with this before, which, I freely admit, he had on several occasions.

 _::It’s my love! Love, love!::_ Of course Decken couldn’t hear me – he was too far up, and on top of that there were a few layers of bubbles between us.

 _::Why can’t you just accept it?! Things that I throw with my Mark-Mark Fruit power won’t stop until they crash into something or hit their target!_ Noah _the giant ship! It embodies my love for you! Accept it! And drop dead along with all of Fishman Island, Shirahoshi!::_

“I am summoning Kyogre to blast that damn ship to pieces and send Vander Decken falling down the nearest trench to the center of the world or so help me—“

“No!” Jimbei argued instantly.

I frowned at him, almost pressing down on the Summoner button of my PokeDex. “Give me a reason why not.”

One of the anchors slammed into the island and started dragging across the ground.

“That ship is an important piece of our history,” Jimbei insisted. “It’s the home of multiple fishmen in the Fishman District – destroying it will only cause homes to be lost. We have to stop it from colliding into the island, not completely obliterate it!”

“Captain Vander Decken!” Wadatsumi cried. “What about me?!”

Decken’s cackle echoed across the island again. _::Wadatsumi! It’s too late! It’s impossible for me to save you! So I need you to become a sacrifice upon Shirahoshi’s death, along with the island!::_

“No!”

The bubble was looking like it wasn’t going to hold for much longer – I wanted to do something about it as the fishmen started to panic around me.

“I understand that it’s important to history and that it’s the home of fishmen who live outside of the island, but right now it’s a danger and if it isn’t taken care of, we’re all gonna be as good as dead!” I snapped at Jimbei.

I started to move to summon another one of my Pokémon, but a familiar arm blossomed from mine and grabbed my fingers, pulling them back.

“Jimbei’s right, Maria,” Robin said seriously. “ _Noah_ is an important part of their history that still has a role to play. We can’t let it be completely destroyed at any cost.”

I gritted my teeth, but I couldn’t very well summon Kyogre while Robin was holding my fingers back. “Well, we need to stop it _somehow._ What do you—“

“Hey, where did Princess Shirahoshi go?!” a fishman barked.

The four of us turned our heads at once, eyes widening when we saw that – low and behold – Shirahoshi had disappeared and was no longer near Surume!

“What?! Princess! Princess Shirahoshi!” Jimbei started looking around quickly for the mermaid princess. I did as well as Robin released my fingers.

“I am over here!”

We looked up at the sound of her voice and – she was hovering in the air above the plaza, a bubble around her middle, arms outstretched.

“Princess Shirahoshi?!” someone cried in alarm. “When did she get up there?!”


	18. Stop Noah!

**Maria’s POV**

Cries of panic and surprise quickly rose up around the plaza at what Shirahoshi was doing so high up and so close to _Noah._

“Shirahoshi!” Nami yelped. “Why did she do that?!”

“She’s trying to stop _Noah_ from hitting the island…” My eyes widened sharply. “And it looks like she wants to sacrifice herself in the process!”

“Yes,” Jimbei agreed grimly. “But only because the ship is flying towards her.”

“What?!” Nami looked between the two of us, alarmed.

The ship moved slightly, still pressing in on the bubble, but now it was more going towards Shirahoshi and – it slowed its descent.

 _::There’s the girl I love!::_ Decken exclaimed in delight.

A snarl slipped out of me; Lugia mimicked the noise.

 _“I see why you want to see this one beaten,”_ Lugia growled at me.

“I thought you wanted to take just my life!” Shirahoshi cried. “If I am the only one who you want to kill, please do not harm the other people of the Ryugu Kingdom! Come and get _me!”_

“Shirahoshi, no!”

My cry was joined by others calling Shirahoshi’s name as she climbed upwards, _Noah_ moving with her as she tried to get the ship away from the bubble – which it did. The giant ship started changing course.

Vander Decken, meanwhile, was starting to sound much more crazed in his laughter and in what he was saying. And then he threw a knife into Shirahoshi’s shoulder, and she quickly fled around the bubble in order to keep as far away from Vander Decken as possible.

The hand that wasn’t holding my PokeDex clenched into a fist. “Why that no-good stalking – gah! If he was down here I would be wringing his neck right about now!”

“Look! Captain Hody’s up there! He’s heading for the _Noah!”_

I turned my head sharply at the fishman’s cry, then followed the pointing hand of the one that had spoken.

There was a speck climbing up one of the large chains that dangled from Noah’s hull.

Then I saw Sanji climbing up into the air on his Sky Walk, and I brought out my hoverboard in order to join him. I was about to jump on when Luffy started yelling.

“Sanji, Maria, wait! I’ll go up there. You stay here and take care of the plaza!”

“All right!” Sanji called back as I paused, frowned, then put my hoverboard away. “But Luffy, the ship is in the water!”

“Do you think the ship is filled with water, Jimbei?” Luffy looked over at our friend.

“I don’t know, but I know Decken is a Devil Fruit eater,” Jimbei replied. “Which means there must be air for him! Take this with you.” He pulled out a piece of coral similar to the one he’d given me earlier, before we’d gotten to the plaza. “It’s a coral that produces bubbles!”

“Thanks!” Luffy caught the Bubble Coral that Jimbei tossed at him. He stuck it in his mouth, then reached up and grabbed Sanji’s leg.

“I’ll be counting on you to save my beloved Shirahoshi-chan!” Sanji barked. “You ready, Luffy?!”

“Go ahead!”

“Be careful of Hody, Luffy!” Jimbei warned. “Fishmen are much stronger than humans in water!”

“Got it!” Luffy pulled back, preparing for Sanji’s move. “Sanji!”

With a roar, Sanji whipped his leg around as Luffy shot up, sending him slingshotting towards the ship as Sanji fell back into the plaza.

“All right. I’ve got some anger at Decken, but I can’t let it out on him because he’s up on the ship and I won’t be going up there.” My eyes narrowed, and I focused on Wadatsumi. The Sea Bonze still hadn’t moved from the plaza.

Then came the sound of screaming, and I turned my gaze towards _Noah._

Hody was shooting water at mermen who were surrounding the bottom part of one of the chains.

“Lugia.”

Lugia looked over at me and huffed, then motioned for me to get on.

“Maria-chan, what are you doing?” Jimbei asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Keeping people from getting killed.” I primed my Buster. “Let’s go!”

Lugia let out his signature cry and took off, blasting the plaza with wind as he shot up towards the people that Hody was shooting at.

“Blast him!” I pulled out my Buster and aimed at Hody, eyes narrowing as I focused on that monster and his crazed laughing.

Lugia reared a head back as mermen fell—

And unleashed a blast of air that shook the chain so vigorously that it forced Hody to grab on in order to prevent him from being blasted off.

The shaking was enough to prevent me from getting a clear shot at the monster, but it was enough to get the mermen out of range of any remaining attacks from Hody.

“Buzz off!” I barked from Lugia’s back as Aeroblast’s effects faded. “You have no right to call them cowards when you are one yourself, hiding behind your hate! You refuse to see humans beyond the prejudices you grew up with, because you’re too afraid of us!” I pointed at him with my Buster. “Stop this crazy endeavor of yours before things get too far out of hand!”

Hody looked like he was about to shoot at the two of us, but then the chains jerked upwards suddenly, and he was out of the bubble before either one of us could continue to fight back against each other. Seconds later, the _Noah_ was pulling away from Fishman Island’s bubble, leaving it unpopped and unharmed.

 _“Feel better?”_ Lugia asked dryly.

“Not by a long shot,” I snapped in reply. “Gah, I wish I was with Luffy up there right now to take care of him and his sick mug.”

_“We could go up there.”_

“Yeah, but orders is orders. I shouldn’t follow him up.” I looked back at the plaza. “Let’s go back and make sure that the rest of Hody’s crew doesn’t break out and start causing more damage than they already have.”

Lugia nodded, and we turned and shot back towards the plaza – where Wadatsumi was bawling at the top of his lungs about Vander Decken abandoning him.

That quickly changed as we moved back to the plaza, though – even as we hovered above it and started to move to land, he started to _stop_ crying, looking confused.

“Oh, so that’s what it was?” Wadatsumi asked aloud.

By the time we were about to land in the plaza, his entire persona had changed. His skin turned red, his eyes went angry, and he punched Surume so hard that it _knocked him out._

“Okay, not landing yet.” I leaned forward on Lugia’s back, my Buster still ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. “We need to take that guy out.”

“Captain Decken!” Wadatsumi roared. “I’m sorry that I didn’t trust you!” He moved to stomp on Usopp and Chopper, who very quickly scrambled back before they could be.

I deactivated my Buster and started charging up a different sort of attack as Lugia hovered at the edge of the plaza. The fire that gathered on my arms immediately was more white than red, and I know that there was a temperature spike as a result.

Meanwhile, Wadatsumi moved to punch Jimbei, who reacted accordingly and kicked his fist hard enough that the Sea Bonze was sent stumbling back yelping in pain despite the sudden boost of energy he had.

“Now! White Flare, 100 percent!”

At my barking cry, the shockwave of white flames that I’d long since grown used to shot out and collided with Wadatsumi’s face, causing him to stumble back and screech in pain as he grabbed at his beard and the hair growing on his head as it started to burn away. He fell backwards to the ground, trying to pat the white flames out.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Wadatsumi’s feet kicked in the air reflexively as he tried to pat the fires out, only to have his hands burned in the process.

I let out a sigh of relief as Lugia brought us back down to the plaza. “There we go. _Now_ I feel _much_ better.”

Lugia snorted as we landed, then blinked in surprise as Sanji suddenly ran up to Wadatsumi and kicked him in the head.

“Ouch! Who is it this time?” Wadatsumi sat up quickly and rubbed a bump on the back of his head, fires going out and – ugh, you know what he looked better with all that hair _on_ rather than burned off like that.

“You big shit!” Sanji roared, pointing at Wadatsumi accusingly. “What would happen if you so much as made a scratch or two on our beautiful navigator?!”

I slid off Lugia’s back as Nami got to her feet from where she had been blown to the ground. “Well, whatever Sanji’s gonna do to him, it’s gonna be interesting, that’s for sure.”

“That wasn’t my fault!” Wadatsumi protested.

“I will fight you, Great Monk!” Jimbei moved to stand next to Sanji.

“Pay with your life, you Jumbo Steamed Bun!” Sanji spat.

I side-eyed a group of fishmen who were standing nearby, looking between us and some of the others and looking like they weren’t sure who exactly to go after and try to kill.

I lifted my Buster and charged a shot, then fired – this time, though the energy sphere wasn’t orange, it was _yellow_ , and sparked with the electricity that my attacks rarely used. It took five of the seven fishmen out and left them paralyzed on the plaza floor as the other two scattered in terror.

Then there came more screams – I caught sight of a mostly-orange blur as the octopus merman dashed from one group of fishmen to the next.

“Hey, isn’t that one of their officers?” I frowned. “Doesn’t look like he should be running around cutting down his own men.”

 _“His hair is as white as Hody’s,”_ Lugia noted.

“…Hey, yeah, you’re right. Looks like he got his hands in those Energy Steriods too – think we should—“

_“Let your friend Zoro handle him. He is far better suited.”_

The octopus merman went straight for Robin then, only to get stopped suddenly by Zoro, all three swords out, looking as menacing as he usually did on the battlefield.

“Yeah, they definitely got this. But I don’t think that I’m going to let my guard down just yet. There are a ton of these guys wandering around here still and they could come up on us at any time.”

Lugia huffed in agreement.

We ended up settling to do clean-up around the plaza, taking out fishmen and steering clear of the fights that were going on – Sanji and Jimbei taking on Wadatsumi as he inflated to a large round size, Zoro focusing on the octopus fishman, and then Usopp taking on the little red guy and Brook focusing on the purple and blue fellow – who, oddly enough, could appear and disappear at will. I could see Chopper focusing on the hammerhead fishman and Franky was going after the multi-armed fishman too.

Nami joined Lugia and I in cleaning up the riffraff that were running around unattended yet. Lugia kept glancing up into the sky on occasion, looking worried.

“What’s up?” I finished off another fishman; there were so few of them now that weren’t officers in Hody’s crew that the rest of us had a chance for a breather.

 _“I can sense the change in the currents from here,”_ Lugia said worriedly. _“Something is happening.”_

“Should we go and help?” I asked instantly.

“Luffy can handle what’s going on up there,” Nami spoke up from nearby. She didn’t look like she was saying it in complete confidence, however. “How can you sense the currents changing from here?”

 _“I am a creature_ of _the currents; I travel them on my world and am capable of creating them when needed.”_ Lugia looked over at her, a serious spark in his eyes. _“And there is something dangerous happening above. Maria, how is it you have not sensed it?”_

“It’s probably something that’s supposed to happen,” I replied as Nami looked between the two of us in alarm. “I don’t get visions for plot points that I don’t know are coming; this is one of those times. Whatever’s going on up there, we probably can’t stop.” I growled in frustration. “Which _means_ we’re stuck down here while Luffy figures out a way to stop whatever it is you’ve sensed!”

“Other worlds? Plot Points?” Nami frowned at the two of us. “Maria, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”

“I’ll fill you in on what’s happening with _me_ later; we’ve got other things to worry about right now.” I looked up at the sky. “I just hope that he’s able to take care of it and we won’t have to get even more involved.”

Lugia made a noise that sounded like agreement.

“You are making even less sense than you did two years ago,” Nami said with a frown. “What’s with you?”

“…let’s just say there are a lot of things in my memory that make sense together but make no sense when talked about alone,” I replied. “Pokémon, Keyblade wielders, the fact that I’m not human in body – it’s all connected in a weird way. I’ll be able to explain how when we’re not about worrying about the fishmen or what’s going on outside the bubble.”

Nami looked like she wanted to whack me over the head, but she let out a groan of frustration instead and whacked into a fishman that was trying to sneak up on her from behind. “You’d better explain what’s going on.”

“I will, I promise.”

Then armored fishmen armed with tridents flooded the plaza and went after the New Fishman Pirates. I started to hear fishmen crying out in a panic, “Go, slaves! Fight if you don’t want to die!”

  1. Saw. Red.



“Lugia, back me up!” I leapt onto my hoverboard and shot towards a group of shambling humans, clenching both my fists tightly. Curved blades sprang from my arms then, sliding out of hidden compartments in my forearms and curving around my fists protectively.

I flew past a group of humans and sliced through the chains that weighed down their collars, causing some of them to stop short in surprise.

“Hey!” a purple fishman holding the ends of the chains started to wave a gun at me in a menacing manner. “What do you think you’re—“

Lugia grabbed him with one of his feet and threw him at one of the plaza walls with a screech.

“Hold still,” I ordered the human pirates – men, all of them. Hody had said there were women and children outside the plaza that would be dealt with later; I could only guess these men had families they’d brought with them. “I’m going to cut you loose, but I don’t want you to shy away too far. I don’t want to cut you by accident. All right?”

The men in front of me hesitated, but then one of them swallowed nervously and stepped forward, holding out his wrists.

I slashed through his chains with semi-expert movements. I wasn’t as good as Zoro or Brook with a blade, but my skillset would be enough to get these guys free.

As the former slaves looked down at their freed selves with an expression of amazement, I started to hear cries going up around the battlefield as the sounds of chains clinking to the ground were heard. I looked around in order to see if there was anyone else trying to free the humans like I was.

A fishman – the very same long-necked fool who had met us at the gates – let out a yelp as he was thrown off his “throne” being carried around by beaten human pirates.

“Did you do it?” A pirate looked over and – there was Robin, arms crossed.

“Why did you save us?” one of the pirates in front of me looked at me with an expression of awe.

“I don’t like to see others put down to their lowest,” I replied. “And I _hate_ people who think they can stand above others and use them as nothing more than cannon fodder and footstools.”

“And I can’t turn down a request from a handsome man,” Robin added. “You can thank Boss Jimbei for that.”

Jimbei asked her? I got the feeling that Robin would have done something about it anyway whether Jimbei had asked her or not, but the fact that he _had_ asked her to would probably turn the pirates over onto our side.

The long-necked fishman stepped out of the crowd, carrying a weapon. “You can’t do that! Trawl—“

I quickly changed gears and sheathed the blade in my right arm while activating my Buster. “Freeze Shot!”

The explosion of ice crystals that formed on the front of the weapon kept it from firing on Robin. The fishman looked at it in alarm, then looked over at me before his eyes narrowed, and he dropped the gun as he snarled at me.

“How dare you—“

“Corpo Fleur!”

Robin suddenly grew from the fishman’s neck, sprouting multiple arms and grabbing onto him as the figure standing near us suddenly dissolved into pink petals.

“What the—“

A _second_ Robin appeared near his legs and started pulling up one of his legs, also sprouting multiple arms. “It won’t take long. Relax.”

“Let go of me!” the fishman barked. “How are there two of you?!”

“Whelp.” I took a few steps back. “This isn’t gonna sound pretty.”

“Double Clutch!”

The sound of his spine breaking as Robin bent him into a “U” shape _really_ didn’t sound good to my ears. I winced back with an uneasy expression.

Lugia looked a little sick himself. _“I am never angering that human.”_

“Good choice.”

“Hammond-san!” a fishman yelled.

“That bitch!” roared his companion. The two of them started running towards Robin—

Only to be met by the freed pirates before I could move to intervene!

“Thank you, sisters!” one of the pirates said.

“You bastards really treated us like shit!” roared another at the fishmen.

“You can’t beat us on earth!” a third added.

The pirates charged at the fishmen as cries went up around the plaza at their revolt.

“Man, and for a second there I thought they were going to run and get out of here,” I commented in slight amazement.

Robin smiled a little. “It seems they are thankful for what we did for them.”

I was about to say something else, but then sirens started going off, causing me to pause and look up.

_::To all the citizens of the kingdom—from the Air Tank above the island. An emergency evacuation order has been issued! The giant ship Noah is falling onto the island again! Please leave the island immediately!::_


	19. The Truth Behind Hody

**Chapter 159 (or 19) – The Truth Behind Hody**

**Maria’s POV**

“That thing is coming back?!” Nami yelped in alarm. She looked over at Lugia and I quickly. “You two – get up there and see about stopping it before it’s too late!”

“Luffy—“

“I don’t care that Luffy told you to stay down here and help us in the plaza; he needs help!” Nami snapped at my protest. “Now get up there before I zap you both with a Lightning Tempo!” She waved her Clima Tact at us meaningfully, that blazing spark of “I really will do it and I don’t care if you get hurt” appearing in her eyes.

I exchanged looks with Lugia.

_::Straw Hat Luffy-san::_

We looked up as the speakers went off again.

_::This is the Air Tank. We met you a while ago::_

“They’re talking to Luffy?” I frowned. “Must’ve left the broadcast system on – there’s no way he’d be down here.”

 _::We’ve been listening to what’s been going on out there, and we can see_ Noah _falling towards the island::_

 _::Luffy-sama! What should I do about_ Noah? _::_

My eyes widened sharply. “Shirahoshi!”

 _::Hey, hello?::_ Now Luffy’s voice was there. _::How can we get air from you?::_

 _::If we make a bubble and shoot all the air from the Air Tank, maybe we can surround_ Noah _::_ replied one of the Air Tank fishmen. _::I’m afraid you’ll have to take it from there!::_

 _::Enough with the difficult stuff and just do it!::_ Luffy barked in reply.

Nami relaxed slightly. “Good. It sounds like he’s still all right.”

“And he still has a handle on what’s going on,” I added.

_::Luffy-san, please save the island!::_

“He’s got this.” I smirked, determined.

Then another voice joined in.

_::Hey, Straw Hat. Can you hear me?::_

It wasn’t one that I recognized; it must’ve been someone Luffy met before we’d met up in the Sea Forest.

“Prince Fukaboshi!” identified a fishman nearby – a…seahorse merman, I guess.

Wait – _Prince?_ That meant the labored voice was one of Shirahoshi’s older brothers! The ones that Jimbei had mentioned when talking about Otohime!

_::About Hody Jones. I found out who he really is!::_

My gaze narrowed sharply into a determined glare.

 _::Brother-Hoshi, so who is he?!::_ Luffy demanded.

_::…Hody is…a monster who was brought to life by our environment!::_

“What does he mean?” Nami asked, frowning.

“I think I know,” I said. “But I’ll let him explain.”

_::The New Fishman Pirates are a group of monsters created from an ancient grudge! The grudge was born from their ancestors in the shadow of Fishman Island. And they fear that the grudge will be forgotten, and their anger against the humans will be dispelled. That’s why they are so impatient. And they want humans to be evil, so they can justify themselves for their crusade!::_

I said nothing during Fukaboshi’s explanation. If anyone looked over at me, I’m sure that my eyes would seem shadowed to them.

_::They just want to see bloodshed, and they don’t even want peace for fishmen! …Their anger is not rooted in their experience or their true beliefs. They have no substance! They are completely “empty!”::_

“So, this is what happens when you let anger fester and grow,” I said quietly.

 _“Is this Darkrai’s level of terror?”_ Lugia asked me.

“I don’t know. You can’t compare hate with a corruption like that. Darkrai was so steeped in darkness that he wanted to spread it across the world; Hody simply wants to _destroy_ everything. I _want_ to say that hitting him with amnesia would do enough to give us a chance to knock some sense into him, but if he’s been taking steroids to increase his strength there’s little to no chance for that.”

_“I see.”_

_::It was too late!::_ Fukaboshi exclaimed. _::I don’t know when but we lost contact with the Fishman District, and they’ve become something like an isolated, dark side of Fishman Island! We pretended not to see the twisted hatred building up in that lawless ditch in the deep water! I filled my mothers shoes and collected signatures, but I was only dealing with superficial matters. But I thought I was making progress!::_

I closed my eyes and shook my head a little. “He probably wasn’t the only one who thought like that….”

_::It was too late! People like them are the ones that my mother feared the most!::_

_::Brother-sama::_ Shirahoshi murmured in worry.

_::We should have fought within ourselves first! We should have fought our own feelings towards humans! Mother was…Mother was killed by the grudge growing on Fishman Island!::_

There it was. The truth about everything that was going on and the events that had led up to this. Otohime was killed by a person, yes, but she was also killed by an _ideal._ A terrible, terrible ideal that should never have existed and yet still did.

It was something that we had to do something about _now,_ before it was too late.

Before someone else like Hody rose up, even more terrible than before, and tried to do something about picking up where he might end up leaving off after today.

_::Maybe she knew it! She told us not to hold hate or resentment on her part towards the killer. But a part of me held that resentment, and hated humans for killing my mother! Dead people take their regret to their grave. So a grudge is an illusion that the living create and they alone cultivate it! Because I hated humans – even a bit, I overlooked the resentment in the Fishman District and when I finally noticed, it had become too powerful and beyond control! If nothing is done, Fishman Island will destroy itself through its own hatred toward humans!::_

I nodded quietly. “Lugia.”

Lugia looked over at me.

_::Straw Hat! Please! We don’t need the past! Reset our history to zero! Wipe out the phantoms who shut the island away from the sun!::_

“We need to get up there and help,” I said. “Are you willing?”

_::Bring Fishman Island back to zero!::_

Lugia considered my question. _“Something must be done,”_ he agreed.

 _::Brother-hoshi::_ Luffy spoke up suddenly. _::As long as you let me handle it my way, don’t worry::_

 _::Yosh! It’s in the bubble!::_ the fishman in the Air Tank cried in triumph.

_::Our minds were made up when we arrived at the plaza that, along with Jimbei, we wouldn’t let anyone harm the island! Leave it all up to us, Brother-hoshi! We’re friends, right?::_

There was silence around the plaza for a moment, and then our spectators broke out into loud cheers at Luffy’s voice while we heard Fukaboshi sniffling on the other side of the line.

“Fukaboshi sounded like he’d been wounded,” I said grimly. “We need to get up there and get him out of there.”

Lugia nodded in agreement, then looked at Nami. _“You will be able to handle things here without us?”_

“Yeah.” Nami nodded curtly. “Get going and help Luffy!”

I nodded in agreement, then leapt on Lugia’s back. He took off with a blast of wind that caused the fishmen standing near us to get blown back from the force, and we shot up towards the top of the island’s bubble.

 _“I doubt that going straight through the bubble will be wise,”_ Lugia said.

“Go back to the main entrance then?”

_“No; I saw where Shirahoshi passed through the bubble up here safely.”_

It took me a moment to notice what Lugia was aiming for; a giant stone gate that was built into one side of the bubble, and the water on the other side of it.

I pulled out the Bubble Coral Jimbei had given me when we were going from the Sea Forest to the main island, then pressed down on the closed end as we passed through the film and into the water, then through the side of the passageway we’d ended up in – and out into the middle of the sea.

And I was struck by how large _Noah_ was, still bearing down on Fishman Island despite the fact that there was a giant bubble surrounding it now.

“Let’s find Fukaboshi and get him out of here before things get any worse,” I said. “Then we can come back and help Luffy if he needs it.”

Lugia nodded, then flapped his wings sharply and shot up towards the ship. As we started to approach the large ship, I saw that Luffy and Shirahoshi were on the other side of it, facing down Hody.

And Hody looked _monstrous._ He’d torn through his shirt, his lips were pulled back and showing his gums, and his eyes had _inverted_ their color scheme, more red than white. It was the most disgusting display that I’d ever laid eyes on – and I’m not comparing him to Pokémon I’ve seen that people would willingly label as “disgusting.”

I’m talking about comparing him to the looks of hatred I’ve seen on others. Lysandre, Team Rocket, Team Galactic, Cyrus, Megatron, Darkrai, Rourke, and all the others I’ve encountered since I started traveling on my own when I was 16.

Hody’s look of anger and relish at his own hatred topped them all and then some.

“Good luck, Luffy,” I murmured as we moved past them. Shirahoshi looked over at us with wide eyes, but she didn’t move from where she was positioned behind Luffy.

I caught sight of him drawing his arm back as we disappeared on the other side of _Noah_ and started heading up.

The sound of something exploding caught my attention as Lugia’s wings flapping in the water brought us up past the ship quickly; I looked back and saw the remains of flames as water poured through a broken part of the ship.

“Huh.” I blinked. “Looks like Luffy knocked Hody in there. Smart – there’s a lot of air for him to move around with.”

 _“There’s the prince.”_ Lugia slowed slightly and redirected our movements as we came closer to a large merman with a shark’s tail and a _lot_ of blue hair swirling in the water.

He was also bleeding badly, and watching what was going on below.

“Are you Fukaboshi?” I asked as Lugia came to a stop next to him. “The prince we heard over the broadcast system on the island?”

He looked over at us with wide-eyed alarm, gaze going to Lugia first. “What – the Harmony of the Sea? It actually exists?”

 _“I do, but there are far more pressing matters than my presence,”_ Lugia noted grimly. _“Come – we must get you medical attention.”_

Fukaboshi looked surprised, then frowned and shook his head. “My brothers – Ryuboshi and Manboshi – they require more attention than I do. They’re further up – go and reach them.” He looked back down at Noah. “I need to watch this.”

Lugia and I exchanged looks, then looked over at _Noah_ as Shirahoshi and Luffy swam towards it at high speed.

But then we saw something else.

My eyes narrowed, and I gritted my teeth as Fukaboshi cursed next to me. “Hody isn’t done yet. Lugia—“

_“I see him.”_

“I can’t believe it!” Fukaboshi exclaimed. “The Energy Steroids – he is taking _more_ of them!”

“This isn’t good.” My eyes narrowed. “Maybe it’s a good thing we came up here to find you and get out of here.” I looked over at Fukaboshi.

“Bring my brothers here first,” Fukaboshi replied, determined. “They are further up.” He pointed straight upwards. “And they are wounded by Hody’s attacks – hurry!”

 _“Understood.”_ Lugia nodded, then turned and swam up in the direction Fukaboshi had pointed.

It didn’t take us long to see the two that Fukaboshi had mentioned – one brother long, and with what looked like an eel’s tail; the other more stocky. Both of them turned their heads weakly as we approached; clearly, they were too wounded to move much more than they already were.

Lugia’s presence was enough to make them more focused, though.

“What—“

“Don’t try to talk too much.” I reached out and grabbed at the end of one prince’s eel tail and pulled him closer to that I could set him on Lugia’s back. “Luffy’s fighting Hody, but the ship is still falling towards Fishman Island.”

Lugia carefully took the other prince up in his mouth and twisted his neck in order to get him in a closer position; I pulled him onto Lugia’s back as well.

The two princes groaned.

“We…have to stop…”

“I know,” I replied. “Luffy’s doing what he can to stop Hody; we’re gonna need something else to take care of the ship itself.”

The eel merman prince looked past me and up at Lugia. “Y-you’re the Harmony of the Sea – c-can you create currents to move it?”

 _“I could, but as much as I am the sea’s harmony, I am unfamiliar with this place,”_ Lugia replied. _“Creating currents here, even temporary ones, may prove disastrous to the life in this part of the sea if not done correctly.”_

The two princes didn’t look happy at that revelation.

“We’ll have to do something different, then,” I said, frowning. Lugia turned and started swimming back down towards the ship and Fukaboshi. “Jimbei and Robin said that the ship might be important to the history here; is that right?”

“Y-yeah,” replied the stouter of the two princes.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s get down there – Lugia, do you think you’ve got enough strength to pull on one of those chains and slow it down?”

Lugia nodded as we got closer to Fukaboshi just as he yelled, “Straw Hat!!”

“Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi screamed as we came to a stop.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

“Hody appears to be too strong,” Fukaboshi replied worriedly. “He just used a move that—“

“Gear Third!”

My gaze moved down to _Noah,_ my eyes widening sharply when one of Luffy’s fists suddenly grew in size, then became black as Armament activated.

“Drop dead already!” Hody roared. I saw water being thrown up at Luffy.

“Gum Gum Elephant Gun!”

Fist met water, and with Luffy roaring loudly, he broke past it and slammed into Hody, sending him flying back into the large building-like structure on _Noah’s_ top deck.

Luffy pulled one fist back, then inflated his other arm and started punching them both repeatedly into _Noah_ and where Hody had been seen last.

“Gum Gum Elephant Gatling!"

The following barrage of fists was one that I didn’t want to end up on the other side of. And I don’t think that Hody knew what he was getting into by facing them, either.

I heard the sound of something popping out the other side of the bubble, and Fukaboshi and Shirahoshi gasped.

“Hody—“ Fukaboshi didn’t look like he could believe what he was seeing. “He’s been knocked unconscious for certain! Straw Hat did it!”

But Luffy was still beating into the ship like no tomorrow, still roaring at the top of his lungs. Either he didn’t know, or he didn’t intend to stop regardless of what was happening.

A bad feeling started to settle in my stomach. “The ship isn’t stopping yet – Lugia, can you—“

Lugia was already moving, one wing brushing Fukaboshi onto his back as he moved down to one of the chains and started to pull to the side, away from Fishman Island and towards another part of the sea floor. Unfortunately, Lugia’s pull wasn’t doing as much as any of us wished it would; because of the size of _Noah_ in comparison to us, just Lugia pulling wasn’t doing enough.

Luffy kept roaring and pummeling the ship, even as Lugia pulled on one of the chains to no avail and Shirahoshi watched in alarm.

“Luffy isn’t going to be able to destroy it at this rate,” I said in worry. “We’re going to need more help!”

“Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi exclaimed. “Your wound is—“

“Stay away!” Luffy roared in reply. “Stay there and watch! I need to keep destroying this thing now! Stop, ship!”

Fukaboshi sighed and bowed his head. “I’m sorry, Father. Destroying the _Noah_ is the only way.”

“No, it’s not,” I said in reply, determined.

“Please,” Shirahoshi begged.

And then something strange happened.

A ripple of _something_ passed through the water, causing Lugia to stiffen, then quickly let go of the chain and pull back as dark shadows moved above us, then _around_ us, grabbing the chains and stopping the ship short.

“Who is it?!” Luffy barked. What, did he hear something?

“Luffy-sama, please stop!”

I heard Shirahoshi’s voice, but I wasn’t looking at her.

I was looking at the _giant Sea Kings_ that had grabbed the chains in their mouths and stopped the ship from falling further.

“Cry-hoshi, get out of the way! I need to destroy this to save the island!”

“It’s okay!”

“No it’s not!”

“The _Noah_ is already stopped!”

I swallowed as I looked up at the Sea Kings, only half-hearing the argument between Shirahoshi and Luffy. A couple of them looked at us with somewhat curious gazes; I gave a half-smile and waved a little.

“Uh, hi. Thanks for coming to stop the ship from falling,” I said.

Shirahoshi started crying below us. “Luffy-sama is angry!”

“Hey, this is no time for crying!”

“I don’t quite understand, either,” Shirahoshi admitted. “But the _Noah_ is stopped now!”

One of the Sea Kings dipped its head slightly at us.

“Luffy-sama! The wound is opening up again!” Shirahoshi exclaimed in alarm. “You are bleeding a lot!”

A couple seconds later, Luffy let go from where he had been holding onto the side of the ship, then started to drop down to the wooden carnage below.

“Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi quickly started to move after him, then stopped and looked up. “Huh?”

I frowned at her reaction. “Did she…hear something?”

What followed felt like a surreal, half-conversation as Shirahoshi looked between each of the Sea Kings with a wide-eyed expression.

“What? I didn’t do anything – I was just sad,” Shirahoshi argued. It felt like there was something else to her voice – an extra level of power of some kind.

Then Luffy collided with the mess of wood down on the deck.

Something nudged Lugia from behind; I turned back to see that it was one of the Sea Kings just as Lugia flew through the bubble and down to where Luffy had collided with the wreckage he’d created.

I slipped off Lugia and carefully moved Luffy off the wreckage and onto his back. “Luffy’s bleeding badly! We need to get him to Chopper – stat!”

Lugia huffed in agreement as I moved back to sit at the base of Lugia’s neck as the three mermen princes made sure that Luffy stayed put.

“She’s talking to the Sea Kings,” Fukaboshi said, looking up with an expression of amazement.

“Eh?” I looked at him in surprise. “She – what? Really?” I looked up at the gigantic sea creatures. “And I can’t understand what they’re saying…I guess the language in this world is far different from the one Lugia comes from.”

The bubble started to move away from _Noah,_ and I quickly pulled out the Bubble Coral again as it started to move past us and made a big enough bubble on Lugia’s back for Luffy and me.

“We need to collect Hody and Decken and take them into custody,” Fukaboshi said as Shirahoshi swam towards us. “Ryoboshi, Manboshi.”

“Right.” The two of them nodded, then slipped out of the bubble.

“We will follow after you and Shirahoshi,” Fukaboshi added, nodding to me. “Go. Take your captain to your doctor.”

I nodded. “Right.”

“Brother-sama, are you okay?” Shirahoshi asked worriedly.

“We’re all right, Shirahoshi.” Fukaboshi nodded to his sister. “We will meet you on the island later – go with Fire Storm and the Harmony of the Sea back to the island.”

“My name is Maria, prince,” I corrected.

Fukaboshi nodded, then slipped out of the bubble and went after his brothers.

“Come on.” I looked up at Shirahoshi, then motioned back to the island. “Let’s get back down there the way we came in.”

“Okay!”


	20. Bonding Humans and Fishmen

**Maria’s POV**

Because Hody and Decken had been kicked out on the other side of the ship when Luffy had started his punching spree, the princes were able to grab the two fishmen and move ahead of us. But Shirahoshi, Lugia, my unconscious captain, and I were able to get into Fishman Island right on their heels.

And Luffy wasn’t doing too well, even with me pressing down against his shoulder where it looked like he’d been _bitten_. The wounds were deep enough that they hit important arteries in his shoulder, and that was more than just dangerous.

This was life-threatening.

“I can’t stop the bleeding!” I yelled down to the others as we approached the plaza we’d fought against Hody’s men in. Shirahoshi started crying loudly. “Chopper, get your medical gear _now!_ ”

My yell sent the rest of the crew into a panic as Lugia and Shirahoshi landed in the plaza; I quickly moved Luffy off Lugia’s back without jostling him too much or making the bleeding increase. Feeling _that_ on my armored hands was…very weird. Not to mention unnerving.

“H-hey, Luffy, stay with us!” Usopp exclaimed in a panic as I set him on the ground.

“Luffy-sama pushed himself so far in order to save us!” Shirahoshi’s tears plopped onto the ground, creating large puddles.

“This is bad!” Chopper yelped from where he was lying on the ground. “There are hemostatics in my backpack – get them for me, Robin.”

“Okay.” Robin started going through Chopper’s backpack quickly. What happened that kept Chopper from moving and getting them himself?

“This makes me worried about how you’ll fight from now on, Doc!” Usopp barked.

“Okay, go ahead!”

Robin grabbed Chopper on either side of his head, leaving his limbs hanging in the air. He was holding onto a syringe in one hand. “I’ll help you move.”

“We have an odd doctor here!” Usopp screeched.

“That doesn’t matter!” I snapped in reply as Chopper moved into position.

“Will Luffy-sama be all right??” Shirahoshi asked worriedly.

“I can stop the bleeding but he’s already lost a lot of blood!” Chopper said worriedly. “He’s _lacking_ blood!”

“Luffy is the only one with blood type F among us,” Sanji commented.

My brow furrowed as Usopp leapt up with a screech of alarm. I was the only one of them who didn’t _need_ blood, because of what ran through me and what I was.

And if I _could,_ and I knew the comparison between this world’s blood-typing system and my own…

“There must be somebody in the plaza!”

Franky’s words sent Chopper into action.

“Somebody!” Chopper yelled. “Is there someone with blood type F here?!”

“He needs blood!” Usopp yelled.

“Can somebody donate blood?!” Brook called.

No one standing around the outside of the plaza moved to jump in, much less answer, which caused me to set my jaw as Lugia frowned.

“Really? Nobody?” Zoro frowned up at them disapprovingly.

“Oh yeah! Donating blood to humans is prohibited in this country!” Chopper exclaimed.

“It’s _what?”_ I looked at him in alarm.

“What kind of law is that?!” Nami demanded. “That’s horrible!”

“That’s what I want to know!” I agreed.

“I beg you!” Franky yelled. “Luffy is dying!”

Still, no one watching the plaza moved.

“M-my blood type is not F but mine’s red too!” Shirahoshi spoke up. “It’s no good?!”

“Yes but thank you for offering!” Chopper replied. He paused. “Oh, yeah! There are human pirates!”

I turned my head sharply and caught sight of the pirates standing over in a group, looking nervous.

“Hey, please!” Usopp moved towards them. “If nothing is done, Luffy is gonna – Luffy is gonna die!”

None of the human pirates moved, and neither did the fishmen.

And then I heard the familiar _clack-clack_ of sandals against the ground. I looked up as fishmen and humans parted, letting _Jimbei_ walk past and towards us.

The others looked over as he came to a stop.

“Take my blood,” Jimbei said. He pulled back a sleeve. “It’s F. You can have as much as you need.”

“Jimbei!” Usopp exclaimed in relief.

I nodded in determination. “Chopper, what do you need?”

Chopper was cautious. “B-but it’s against the law—“

“I am a pirate!” Jimbei snapped back.

Cheers started going up around the plaza.

“Okay, let me prepare for the procedure.” Robin turned Chopper so that he could look at me. “Maria, go wash your hands and bring back what I’m going to need for the blood transfusion!”

“Right!” I nodded. “What do you need?”

Chopper hadn’t even finished giving me a list of items before I started running towards the ship and leapt up onto the deck before disappearing into the galley and the medbay that was attached to it. I scrubbed my hands off in the sink before I came back with a couple IVs and an empty blood bag as well as whatever else Chopper needed.

By the time I came back, Chopper was moving around at least somewhat on his own – his movements were tottery, but he was already prepping Luffy and Jimbei with what he happened to have in his back.

I jumped from the ship and landed on the ground – the stone cracked a little underneath my feet, but it didn’t do much else. “Chopper, here’s the stuff!”

“Great! Bring it over here so I can get set up!”

Chopper moved quickly for someone who needed help with moving moments ago. He set up the blood bag in between Luffy and Jimbei, sticking one of the IV needles in Luffy’s arm before turning to Jimbei. “Jimbei, this may sting a bit.”

“I don’t mind.” Jimbei was lying on the ground near Luffy, since we didn’t have much time to drag out a hospital bed or anything similar.

It didn’t take Chopper much time to get the IV in, and in moments Jimbei’s blood – as red as a human’s and just as useful to both humans and fishmen – started moving from Jimbei’s veins to Luffy’s through the blood bag hanging between them.

I could feel that there was something monumental happening here. A fishman had never shared his blood with a human so willingly before. And the only reason it was happening now was because Luffy and Jimbei already shared a bond. And Jimbei wasn’t about to let his friend and our captain die so easily.

This was the first step into mending the relationship between humans and fishmen – or, at least, forging a new one, since the last one had gone so horribly for both sides.

“Jim…bei….”

Luffy’s voice was weak, but it was _there,_ and we all heard it in an instant.

“Luffy-sama, you came to life again!” Shirahoshi cried with relief.

“Luffy!” the rest of all called.

“What is it?” Jimbei looked over. “I didn’t know that you were awake.”

Cheers rose up from the outer cliffs of the plaza – the fishmen and merfolk were celebrating Luffy’s survival as well. The entire climate of Fishman Island seemed to sense and move with the shift to joyful voices, and any clouds that _had_ been in the sky dissipated, revealing nothing but bright sun above.

“Hey, Jimbei.” Luffy’s voice was stronger now.

“Hmm?”

Luffy grinned widely and laughed, causing Jimbei and I to look at him in confusion.

Luffy opened his eyes, that usual determined life back in them. “Join my crew!”

**Time Break**

“Why did you leave the plaza as though you were running away?” Shirahoshi asked, peering over the side of the _Sunny_ and onto the deck. Lugia was flying beside her, although it looked more like he was gliding in the air. He didn’t want to go back yet – probably wanted to make sure that we got to our next stop safely before leaving me to my own devices.

Zoro started going into an explanation about why we weren’t heroes and we weren’t going to be sharing any booze with anyone, which I thought was a stupid comparison – especially considering my _own_ experiences beyond the crew that I hadn’t told them about yet.

I didn’t stop him, though – he could be a hard head when he wanted to be, and I was looking after my Berry trees on the back of the ship to make sure they had lasted the trip down here well enough.

They seemed to be all right – I was able to pick some berries to replenish my supply, and they seemed to be healthy enough.

Hmm…I still hadn’t checked the stores below to see what Shakky had left down there as a “gift” from my Berries. I’d have to check on that.

“Why can’t you join us, Jimbei?!”

And then there was Luffy, who was yelling at Jimbei who had come with us as _Sunny_ had floated away from the plaza.

“Come on an adventure with us! To the sea! It’s gonna be fun!”

“Yeah, join us, Boss!” Usopp said in agreement.

I came over to the edge of the topmost deck on top of the cabins, watching the others bug the fishman and having finished pulling most of the Berries off my trees.

“It’s nice to have a former Warlord with us!” Chopper agreed. He looked at Luffy, frowning. “And Luffy, you need to rest!”

Jimbei sat down on the deck. “As I said, I can’t join you right now! I’m grateful that you asked me. I know it’d be fun to sail the sea with you all. But I still have things that need to be done.”

Considering how famous a man Jimbei _is,_ I’m not surprised that there would be things he would have to take care of before he’d be able to join up with us and just drop any other responsibilities in their entirety.

“I have my current responsibilities which I’m just taking a break from right now,” Jimbei said. “When I fulfill my duties and am free from them, I promise I will come to see you all again. And if you haven’t changed your mind, can I take you up on your offer then?”

“You swear?!” Luffy demanded.

Luffy was _really_ insistent that Jimbei join the crew. I hadn’t seen him get this kind of determined about it – other than when we rescued Robin at Enies Lobby, but she was technically a part of the crew already at that point.

“Hey, hey, when a man talks about his ‘duty,’ you can’t press him,” Sanji spoke up.

“He likes Jimbei so much!” Robin marveled from the cabin level below me.

“He certainly does,” I agreed. “And I like him, too. Kind of hard not to.”

“Luffy thinks so highly of you!” Franky declared. “So we’re all gonna wait for you, Jimbei!”

Jimbei relaxed. “All right. Thank you!”

I smiled a little at Jimbei’s response. Good, we had that settled.

“Now what are we gonna do?” Zoro asked. “Head for the New World?”

“What?! Are you going to leave the island?” Shirahoshi didn’t like that idea. “I couldn’t thank you properly and didn’t get to talk to you!”

“All right!” Sanji exclaimed. “Let’s stay at the Mermaid Café for a week or two!”

“Not with where your head’s going,” I called back as Usopp slapped Sanji on the back of his head. “Seriously, you only _just_ recovered from having near-constant nose bleeds! Shouldn’t you wait before—“

“Hey, wait!”

I blinked at the voice that cut across the island’s sky, then moved over to the back end of the ship to see who was coming.

“Who is it?” Luffy asked from the main lawn.

A fish swam over to the ship, one of those fishman soldiers sitting on its back – what was he following us for?

“Please wait, Straw Hats!” The fish slowed and started keeping pace with the ship; I moved down to the main deck to join the others as the fishman on it said, “King Neptune! I caught up with them!”

“Good,” said a Snail Phone in the fishman’s hand. The guard turned it around and held it up to us. It actually had little imitations of the king’s beard and crown – how cute! “Luffy-kun, why did you leave? I wanted to thank you—“

“I don’t wanna be a hero!” Luffy snapped.

“This again?” I rolled my eyes and sighed.

“I know,” King Neptune replied. “Let’s just have a banquet! The banquet we could not have before-jamon.”

“Banquet?” I repeated, blinking.

“We were invited up to his palace when we first got here,” Nami explained. “And then everything else happened.”

“Ah.” I nodded. “Okay.” I mean, there were probably more details as to _why_ beyond that, but if Neptune had already planned to let us have a banquet…

“A banquet?!” Luffy’s mood changed instantly. “Then I’ll be right there! Banquet! Meat, meat, I wanna eat!”

Nami sighed. “Then why did we leave in the first place?”

I chuckled and shrugged. “Didn’t know we were going to be getting it?”

“We can’t say no to a banquet,” Brook commented.

“All right! Let’s go pick up Hachi and Camie!” Luffy declared.

I chuckled as we quickly moved to get the ship off to our new destination. Well, looks like we weren’t going to be sneaking away from this place quietly.

My grin faded a little, though, when I remembered that I still had a few things that I needed to tell the crew – things that involved Lugia, and what I’d remembered in the last two years.

I’d have to tell them soon. Would I after the party, once we hit the New World? Or would there be a chance tonight…?


	21. The Truth About Maria

**Maria’s POV**

The banquet was _awesome._

The music was _fun_ jazz-swing and had so much bounce to it I couldn’t resist bouncing around on the flounder’s back to the beat. I’d shifted out of my armor when we were coming up here, so there wasn’t as much weight for the flounders to deal with.

I’m sure the mermaids from the Mermaid Café were laughing at me as I danced around, but to be honest, I didn’t really care. I _missed_ music like this – I used to hear it all the time before things went south for a while.

And then more mermaids brought out sake – probably the _good_ sake, if Zoro’s reaction to it was any indication. King Neptune attempted a heart-warming speech, but Luffy cut in ahead of him and got the banquet started with a cheer of his own.

And then there was the _food._ I hadn’t tasted Sea King Meat before, but whatever it was that those giant fish ate made them _delicious._

Lugia and Luffy definitely agreed with me – Luffy ended up yelling at the Legendary for how much he was eating!

Thankfully Lugia didn’t dip into the sake. I don’t think any of us _want_ to know what he could get like if he drank his weight of sake. I mean, Nami and Zoro are both heavy-weights, but…I don’t think we want to know what a powerful Legendary could get like.

“Let me ask you, Luffy, Maria – What do you know about the state of the world right now?”

I looked over at Jimbei as he asked that and Luffy sent a chef scurrying off to get more food. “The state of things? I’m aware of some events, but not everything that’s happened in the last two years.”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?” Luffy asked, frowning.

“Looks like you’re out of the loop.” Jimbei frowned at Luffy. “That’s not good.”

“Yeah?” Luffy probably would have kept asking questions, but more mermaids came with more food and got him prepared for another feeding frenzy. I’d had enough myself by that point, so I wasn’t going to snack off anything else.

“Let’s go somewhere else to talk,” Jimbei suggested.

“Okay.” Luffy shrank down from his potbellied size to his usual skinny appearance. “One sec – I’ll take a light snack!” He snagged the plate of food away from the mermaids, who looked at him in surprise.

I chuckled and shook my head. My grin faded a little. “I’ve got some things to talk about, too, but I’m going to want to talk to the whole crew about them. Lugia, don’t get too overstuffed!”

Lugia crooned back at me, getting a round of laughs from the soldiers partying away below.

Jimbei led Luffy and I away from the main part of the party and into a small, air-filled alcove where Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper were already, taking a breather from the rest of the festivities.

I snorted at Usopp’s round appearance – he definitely needed to burn all that fat off at some point.

“So, Jimbei.” I looked over at him. “We’re gonna have to fill Luffy in on the last couple years, right?”

Jimbei nodded.

“Eh?” Nami frowned, the color of her cheeks indicating she had been drinking _a lot._ “Luffy doesn’t know?”

“Know what?” Luffy frowned.

“There have been some shake-ups in the Navy.” Jimbei sat down – as did Luffy and I.

Jimbei was quick to start covering what had been going on in the last two years, going over things I had and hadn’t heard while I’d been training. Akainu – or Sakazuki – taking over as Fleet Admiral I _had_ heard about, but mostly because of who I had been with for the last eight months or so of my training.

Luffy and Usopp _not_ knowing about what had happened had me curious about what the sniper had been up to.

Luffy didn’t take the news that Sakazuki was the new Fleet Admiral too well, clutching at his reminder-scar like it pained him still.

To be honest, I didn’t blame him.

“Did Aokiji die?” Luffy asked grimly.

“They were both severely wounded,” Jimbei replied grimly, “and though Akainu is pitiless, he showed mercy to his former comrade who couldn’t even stand. But Aokiji refused to work for Akainu, so he left the Navy.”

“He’s not a Navy soldier now, is he?” Luffy asked.

“Not from what I last heard,” I commented. “Sengoku said he hasn’t seen him in uniform since that day.”

“Ehh?” Usopp – now back to his skinny size – looked at me sharply. “You saw Sengoku after—“

“He and Garp came to my training spot to talk.” I shrugged. “I got some training in Haki from Garp for the last eight months of my training. Sengoku looks much better after resigning, what with having all the stress pulled off his shoulders. I think he’s worried about Aokiji, though.”

Luffy looked at me with wide eyes as the color _very quickly_ drained from his face. “You got training from Gramps?! And survived?!”

“Hey! Don’t underestimate my strength, Luffy!”

“I wonder where both of them are and what they are thinking,” Jimbei commented. “It was a big loss for the Government, Aokiji’s resigning.”

“O-of course.” Usopp nodded. “The Admirals were the Navy’s greatest powers.”

“But what the Government did to cover that loss gave the Navy unexpected power,” Jimbei said grimly.

I nodded.

“Listen. You all need to know the two biggest changes which have occurred in the New World. First: the Navy Headquarters, led by Sakazuki, has become an even more powerful force for justice.”

“His twisted version of it,” I scoffed.

Jimbei made a noise that sounded like a humming growl. “And second: the Blackbeard Pirates have advanced.”

Luffy’s and my expressions hardened while the others looked confused. This was something I had heard some of, but not much.

“Blackbeard?” Usopp repeated.

“We met them in Mock Town,” Nami remembered.

“Not the group that he brought with him to Marineford,” I said grimly.

“They destroyed my hometown,” Chopper spoke up.

“He was once a long-time member of the Whitebeard Pirates,” Jimbei said. “He knows their territory very well, and he conquered it in an instant after the good old man died. Using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit that he got from the good old man. The world already counts him among ‘Red-haired,’ Kaido, and Big Mam, and considered him one of the Four Emperors.”

“Tch.” My eyes narrowed.

“So he took Whitebeard’s place successfully.” Nami was frowning. “What a dirty rat!”

“Yes, he is annoying,” Jimbei agreed. “Rumor has it that they are on the hunt for Devil Fruit eaters. They can somehow acquire an eater’s power after killing them. They keep looking for stronger Devil Fruit powers, and…are chasing rumors.” He looked over at me. “Be careful. Especially you two, Maria-chan and Luffy-kun.”

“Why Maria?” Usopp frowned. “She doesn’t _have_ a Devil Fruit, even if she’s got the powers of one.”

“They probably want me for a different reason.” My eyes narrowed. “I _am_ just listed as wanted ‘Only Alive’ on my wanted posters now. After I showed off my Reploid Forme at Marineford, I heard that Vegapunk wants to get his hands on me to figure out how I work.”

Usopp looked nervous suddenly.

“Only alive?” Sanji repeated. “Hm. I guess it would be hard for someone to study someone like Maria-san if you didn’t know how everything worked together – but, Maria-san, why do you think _Blackbeard_ would want to get his hands on you?”

I breathed in and sighed. “It’s because of what I remembered over the last two years. I know that Robin’s got this pretty much figured out already, and I’m probably going to have to talk about this a couple times, but there’s enough of you here that I should explain.”

I looked around at the others as they looked at me with curious looks or confused frowns.

“I bet you guys have some suspicions about me too, especially considering that I summoned Lugia out of nowhere,” I added. “I honestly wasn’t expecting him to be part of the stories that you know about, Jimbei.”

“The Harmony of the Sea is a creature that was once thought to be real, but now we know it as simply a collection of currents our ancestors used frequently.” Jimbei paused. “Their depictions of the currents did look like the creature you brought, however. I hadn’t expected him to be real.”

“He is, just…not here. Not on this world, normally.”

“On this world?” Usopp repeated. “What do you mean? Are you saying he’s – he’s an _alien?_ ” The terror and are in his voice made Chopper stare at him with wide eyes.

“…in the sense that he’s an alien to this dimension too, yeah.” I nodded a little. “And I am too.”

That got me a few blank stares before Chopper and Usopp squealed at once.

“How is that possible?!” Nami demanded.

“Do you have a spaceship in Water 7 that we should know about??” Usopp had stars around his head – honestly, first robots, now aliens?

I shook my head. “I’m not that kind of alien, Usopp.”

“Then what are you?” Chopper asked.

Here we go.

I took in a breath to steel myself. “I’m…I’m a World Jumper.”

The silence that followed only made me feel extremely nervous – especially from the looks I was getting.

“I’ve also been called Planet Hopper and Dimension Crosser, if those sound familiar,” I added quickly.

Zoro snorted from where he lay on the stone floor. So he _was_ awake; I’d wondered. “As much a myth as those Keyblade people you talked about at Thriller Bark.”

“Explain Lugia, then.”

Zoro said nothing.

“How?” Nami asked, quietly.

“What do you mean?” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that.”

“How can you exist? Traveling between anything other than islands is supposed to be impossible!” Nami paused. “Isn’t it? I mean – World Jumpers are just people who were made up by people who dream of leaving their islands and going out to see the rest of the world but never can.”

“That’s what the Navy _wants_ you to think.”

“So, you know that too,” Jimbei noted.

I nodded as the others looked at me in confusion. “I’m an exception to any rules that have been put up that keep normal people from traveling between worlds. If you know about World Jumpers, I’m guessing you know about some of the things that are said about people like me?”

“I heard that they’re super heroes,” Usopp said. “They show up in places where not even the Marines or anyone else who’s in the area can help and they fix problems before they disappear from the face of the earth. And no one knows where they come from or where they’re going when they leave.”

I nodded. “That basically covers it, yeah. So I’m already being used to being treated as a hero, like what is happening here. Thing is, according to what I heard from Sengoku and Garp, World Jumpers _usually_ end up in Navy hands almost as soon as they get here. Because I arrived in Water 7 in the middle of a storm – and I arrived in such a way that my brain got momentarily scrambled – they never found out that I was a World Jumper until Marineford. At least, that can be said for Garp – and it’s likely that everyone else will know about it soon enough.”

“So, you’re going to go to them?” Luffy asked. His tone was grim.

I snorted. “What do you take me for? After Marineford I’d rather not touch any one of them with a rusted pike! No, Sakazuki won’t find an ally in me.”

“But, World Jumpers always pop up for a reason,” Usopp pointed out. “So…why are you here?”

There it was. The million dollar question.

“Did you come to join our crew, Maria-san?” Sanji asked.

I shook my head. “As much as I’d like that to be the answer, that…wasn’t my original intention in coming here.”

“Then what is it?” Chopper asked. “Is there something big coming that you have to be at?”

“Actually, I’m looking for someone.” I reached into my jacket and pulled out a purple, rectangular prism-shaped purple crystal on a leather string. “Nami, you recognize this, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the one thing you took from the treasure from Thriller Bark.” Nami frowned. “You’re looking for the person who owns that?”

“Sort of.” I put the crystal away. “There’s something strange about dimensions – there can be someone exactly like you living in another one, but maybe with a slight difference. There could be a Grand Line out there that you guys can’t reach where Luffy was the first Pirate King and Gold Roger followed in his footsteps, for example, or where Luffy ate a different fruit.”

“I’d never eat a different fruit!” Luffy exclaimed, scowling.

“Here, no,” I agreed. “The point is, these doubles – or counterparts – are people that I can run into when traveling across dimensions. And there’s a counterpart of mine in _this_ dimension who’s running rampant. You guys might have heard or run into her already – the lookalike of me in purple who calls herself Airam.”

Sanji’s expression shifted slightly. “I remember you mentioned her in Enies Lobby.”

“She’s been following me from there all along the Grand Line, and she’s going to _keep_ following me until I do something about her,” I replied. “She pushed me into this dimension and caused me to lose my memory – I don’t know what sort of sick, twisted humor she has in chasing me all over the place, but it’s going to bite her back when she runs into me next.”

The others looked at me with unsure expressions.

“What do you intend to do with her?” Jimbei asked.

“I’m going to leave her alive, if that’s what you’re worried about. But I’m going to return something to her that will help her be less of a crazy Pacifista prototype from another dimension.”

“…I see.” Jimbei sounded like he _didn’t_ see, but he plowed on regardless. “So this rumor of Maria being a World Jumper – at least, that the rest of the world is aware of – is going to cause Blackbeard – Teach – to come after you. And there is bad blood between Teach and Luffy-kun.”

I could hear Luffy’s teeth crunching down against something.

“So be extra careful.”

Continued loud crunching.

“Luffy! Are you even listening?!” Jimbei barked as Luffy kept eating.

“Eh?” Luffy turned.

“I thought you were the captain!” Jimbei roared. “You have to know a little bit of information at least!”

“Don’t worry, Jimbei,” Sanji spoke up. “The rest of us were listening.”

“I thought captains normally don’t listen to other people!” Chopper spoke up innocently.

“Eh heh.” I dragged a hand down my face. “Ah, Chopper, I’m afraid that our captain is a bit of an exception to that. Captains are _supposed_ to listen and know about what’s going on.”

“Yes! Captains are responsible for their crew’s safety, _aren’t they, Luffy?”_ Jimbei sent Luffy a pointed look.

“Hey, Jimbei, take it easy!” Luffy replied cheerily. “I like taking chances!”

Jimbei stared, then his head dropped. “It must be hard to work for him.”

“Yeah,” came Nami’s, Chopper’s, and Usopp’s responses. I just shrugged.

“Luffy-chin!” Camie called as she swam past the room.

“Don’t tell her about me being a World Jumper,” I said quickly and under my breath. “I don’t want many people to know – especially since that kind of knowledge might get them the wrong kind of attention.”

“There you are!” Camie swam up to the edge of the bubble. “You shouldn’t be here – you’re the life of the banquet!”

“Camie!” Luffy waved. He looked around, frowning. “I haven’t seen Cry-hoshi anywhere.”

“Princess-sama said she’s tired and she wanted to rest, so she went to her room,” Camie replied.

“She’s only sixteen; it’s completely understandable that she’d—“

I cut myself off as Luffy rose to his feet. Something…suddenly something didn’t feel right.

“Hey, Zoro!” Luffy barked. “Sanji! I think there is a wild animal or something in the palace.”

Zoro’s eye narrowed. “You’re right.”

“I feel it, too,” Sanji said.

“So _that’s_ the unease I feel,” I commented.

“You have Observation Haki too, Maria-san?” Sanji looked over at me.

“Garp helped me train to know Observation and Armament.” I raised an eyebrow. “He was a tough taskmaster, but I was able to get a slight handle on that. All I’m getting is a sense of unease – you guys know where the thing’s coming from?”

“Yup.” Luffy looked around for a moment, then motioned for us to follow him as he ran out.

**Time Break**

Turned out the creepy swamp man we’d caught and trapped in a barrel was the one that we’d sensed, _and_ he was planning on kidnapping Shirahoshi.

Didn’t end so well for him; Luffy whacked him off Shirahoshi before he could drag her down into a bottomless bog and sent him flying out of the palace and into the main island below.

“I didn’t know he was still around,” Luffy commented.

“Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi grabbed Luffy in her hands in a version of a hug. “It was scary!”

Sanji fell to his hands and knees, slamming a fist into the ground. “You’re so lucky, Luffy! I should have kicked him!”

“Oh, hush.” I looked down at him with a disapproving expression.

“He was the pirate that we’d captured in the sea,” Zoro commented. “I hadn’t seen him since we entered Fishman Island.”

“Considering that Devil Fruit of his, I think that he was the one kidnapping mermaids,” I commented.

Zoro nodded in agreement.

“I _really_ should have kicked him!” Sanji roared.

The seahorse merman minister was quick to thank Luffy for coming to the rescue – again.

“I can’t believe the treasure thief was still here,” he said. “We usually don’t even let a tiny fish into the palace, but the gate was left open in the confusion of the battles. Look! That tower on the right has been sliced clean through!” He pointed over at something on the outside of the bubble surrounding the tower Shirahoshi’s room was apparently in. “I assume the thief did it while we were not here.”

I side-eyed Zoro and raised an eyebrow. “Nah; something tells me that Zoro did that when they were getting away from Hody’s group.”

Zoro glowered at me disapprovingly. “Why did you tell him that?”

“That slime monster didn’t look like he had the strength to do something like that; he looked more like he was up for subterfuge more than anything else.”

“Wait, Mr. Minister-of-the-Right-chan!” Nami spoke up.

“Chan?” the merman repeated in confusion.

“Did you say ‘treasure thief’?”

Uh oh.

“Yes, he stole all the treasures in the palace,” the minister confirmed.

“What?! He did?!”

I backed away from Nami as Luffy and Zoro suddenly looked _very_ uneasy.

“Aren’t they national treasures? You’re not gonna go after them?” Nami looked up at Neptune, frowning.

“After seeing my people’s lives be saves, treasures mean nothing to me,” Neptune replied.

“No, they’re worth something!” Nami insisted. She paused. “What if we get them _back?”_

“There we go,” I muttered to Luffy and Zoro. The two of them nodded in agreement.

“You can keep them all,” Neptune replied. “It would be wonderful if people who saved the country had them-jamon.”

He did _not_ know who he was offering the treasure to.

“Are you sure?” She looked over at Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro with an angered look and I _very quickly_ scooted away from them.

“You fools! Why did you kick him out?!” Nami demanded. “Why didn’t you just punch him and tie him up here?!”

Zoro and Luffy didn’t look like they wanted to deal with Nami’s anger today.

“I love it even when you—“

Nami punched all three of them – including Sanji – in the face and sent them flying out of the bubble. “Go find him now!”

I gulped as I watched them disappear from sight. I was glad that I _barely_ managed to avoid getting smacked down there.

“K-King-sama!”

One of the palace soldiers suddenly came around Hard Shell Tower and came to a stop not far from us.

“Something is wrong with Hody and the others! Their cuffs came off!”

“They what?” I demanded sharply.

We quickly rushed to the prison tower and…

…well, the figures we saw in there _were_ Hody and his men, but they didn’t quite look like how they had even a few hours earlier, that’s for sure!

They were old, wrinkled, and barely able to stand on their feet, but _still_ sprouting nonsense about wanting to avenge whatever anger and hate they’d been told to hang onto!

“What is going on here?” Jimbei asked.

“Is that Hody and his clan?” asked Ryuboshi – the eel merman prince. He was standing behind us with his brothers and Neptune, as well as a small group of palace guards.

“Don’t think you can keep me in jail, you stupid royal family!” Hody, missing teeth and looking skinnier than a rail, grabbed the bars and wheezed at us. “Th-these bars are nothing!”

He tried to pull the bars apart, only to break one of his wrists and fall back yelling in pain.

“Captain Hody!” The multi-armed fishman approached, appearing to plan to help, only for his back to give out and for _him_ to fall back in pain.

I winced at the sound, uneasy and disgusted with the display.

“What is going on here?” Fukaboshi asked.

“I knew it!” Minister of the Right exclaimed. “The Energy Steroid that you guys were taking was the legendary pull that was kept in the Tamate Box!”

“Tamate Box?” Nami and I asked.

“It was a national treasure that had been passed down for generations-jamon,” Neptune explained.

“Ten years ago, someone stole the contents of the Tamate Box,” Minister of the Right added. “We couldn’t find out who did it and by the King’s decision, we closed the case before it became a scandal. Come to think of it, that was when you left the army, Hody.”

Hody had recovered from his yelling fit, but he was on his hands and knees and wheezing. He looked up with that hateful glare in his eyes. “That’s right! I stole it! You idiots!”

“Look who’s talking,” I muttered.

“The legendary pill had unclear affects,” Neptune said grimly. “One explanation says it gives you tremendous power. Another explanation says it just makes you old. It is an odd national treasure. I assumed they guarded the power drug closely in order to seal off its dangerous effect. You folk opened the box that should not be opened and dreamed a foolish dream of gaining some power-jamon.”

Tamate was basically Pandora’s Box here, then. That certainly makes sense – especially considering the old, wizened results that were barely standing in front of us.

“Shut up, Neptune!” Hody snapped back from the floor. He gave a wheezing, hacking cough.

“Seems like they no longer get their revenge,” Neptune commented.

“Shut up!” Hody pulled himself to his feet again as Neptune started to turn and leave. “We’re chosen avengers! We will kill all humans…and you!”

Yeesh. Holding onto their anger even now? When they were physically unable to fulfill whatever it was they were trying to?

Neptune paused and looked back. “I feel sorry for them now. I will consider giving them clemency.”

“Wait, Neptune!” Hody wheezed as Neptune moved out. We started to move after him as Hody set his eyes on one of the princes. “Fukaboshi, you’re a dishonor to our race!”

Fukaboshi didn’t even look the least bit riled up. “Fishman Island will change. You killed my mother but I will not hold a grudge against you. So please. Just shut your mouth! I don’t want the children on the island to hear you.”

I nodded in agreement with Fukaboshi’s words, eyeing Hody and his crew from the corner of my eye as we moved back out of the tower. Hody glared back at me as I moved past him, trying to sneer with his wizened face and his missing teeth.

All he looked was ugly, rotted to the core with nothing left.


	22. Onto the New World

**Maria’s POV**

Well, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji apparently did manage to find the treasure in the end.

Lugia left before we got the news of what happened afterwards. I think that was a good thing, considering that he was going to tell others that I was getting myself into trouble _all over again_ and Pika was going to be _very annoyed_ with me.

As if having a helicopter Legendary was bad enough – that Pikachu could become just as worried!

Bad thing about what had happened was not only did Luffy _give it away_ – much to Nami’s ire – but we _also_ ended up getting the attention of one of the Four Emperors.

And not just _any_ one of the Four Emperors. I’m talking about Big Mam – Charlotte Linlin – the very Pirate Emperor who had been _protecting_ the island before we got here!

“She said she was gonna destroy the island if she couldn’t get her sweets!” Luffy snapped at Nami and Neptune. “Can you believe how crazy she is?! I mean – if it were meat, I could understand!”

I facepalmed at Luffy’s words. _Luffy, you’re just as bad as she may as well be with the sweets._

“But don’t worry,” Luffy added. “I really stood up to her!”

“You stood up to one of the Four Emperors?!” Usopp, Chopper, and Brook were panicked about that, which I can’t really blame them – we’re talking about someone who is up at the top of the food chain in the New world; it’s probably gonna be hard to stand up to them!

“You talked back to Big Mam?!” Jimbei yelped.

And his reaction was understandable, too, because he probably has seen what any one of the Four Emperors are capable of.

“Wow, you are so tough, Luffy-sama!” Shirahoshi marveled.

“That’s not the point!” Usopp screeched.

…which only caused Shirahoshi to start crying. “Nose-pp-sama is scary!”

“My name is Usopp!” Usopp lost his anger. “Okay, I’m sorry!”

“Boy, that’s not good,” Jimbei muttered.

“You’re telling me,” I agreed. “The New World just got a lot more dangerous for all of us.”

Jimbei muttered something else under his breath that I didn’t catch before looking at Luffy pointedly. “You guys should not do anything to make Big Mam angrier!”

“We won’t!” Usopp yelped. “We’re all gonna get killed since she’s one of the Four Emperors!”

“Well, he had no choice, though,” Sanji commented casually.

“What’s done is done,” Zoro agreed.

“I guess it was a tit-for-tat situation so you couldn’t help fighting with her.” Nami approached Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy, and I made sure I was as far away from them as I possibly could be.

I’m glad I did, because she hit all three of them with her fist and a lightning bolt.

“Why did you give _all_ the treasures away?!” Nami roared.

Yup. Of course she’d be mad about that. She was probably going to cry over the fact that we’re going to be hunted by one of the Four Emperors sooner or later.

Luffy staggered to his feet, covered in bruises. “All right! Leff’s go thew the New World!” His lips were swollen horribly.

“We have no future ahead of us!” Usopp, Chopper, and Brook were definitely already panicking.

I sighed and shook my head, folding my arms across my chest as Robin laughed. “Oh come on, guys…did you really think that things were gonna be that easy?”

“Apparently not,” Robin remarked. She looked at me with a more serious gaze. “And what about your goal? Finding your counterpart who has been wandering about on our world?”

“I don’t expect it to be hard, but after Marineford I think her resolve is going to be waffling a bit – especially since her crew is still alive despite everything that’s happened.” I frowned. “Still, though, to have her timeline loop around through mine like it did is…strange. The Continuum Shift I caused to stop that one group must have caused her timeline to go slightly unstable, which explains why Airam and Myra could exist at the same time. She must have ended up in the Shattered Glass dimension after we split, and then ended up in that One Piece dimension that the World Collision started from….Tch.” My expression hardened. “Those Dark Arms really did a number on her, as well as the multiverse.”

“I can’t wait to see what it is that you plan on doing with her,” Robin said with a knowing gleam in her eye.

We were given a ride to where _Sunny_ was docked at the edge of the island on the royal gondola, which was awesome. Franky was already out there waiting for us because he needed to make sure he knew how to get us up to the surface.

In the New World.

I still couldn’t quite believe it – we’d managed to get to the halfway point of Luffy’s journey. There wasn’t much left now, and things were going to get more fun – and more dangerous – from here.

Shirahoshi was tearful as always – especially since we were leaving and she didn’t really want us to.

“We just became friends! Stay here at least one more day! No! A week! No! A year!”

“You’ve been crying since the first time we met, Cry-hoshi!” Luffy commented.

“I-I am sorry! I will stop being a crybaby!” Shirahoshi tried to pull back her tears.

I stood on the deck watching, but my gaze moved to Sanji as he started dancing around at Shirahoshi crying about us leaving.

“Sanji, don’t make this out to be overly romantic,” I said flatly. “She _has_ to be younger than you by a couple years at least.”

Sanji ended up ignoring me as he and Brook attempted to serenade the mermaids seeing us off in their own way before Zoro got Sanji’s attention by calling him “Nosebleed-kun.” It’s pretty easy to guess how well he took _that._

While Zoro and Sanji fought across the deck – I knew they would settle things between themselves eventually – I leaned over the railing and listened as the Minister of the Left told Nami about the new Log Pose that she was going to be using. Choices for multiple routes on account of how magnetic levels changed on the islands themselves?

That could be useful.

Or, in Luffy’s case, simply tell us where we could go for our next adventure by taking the wiggling needle which the Minister of the Left said was where the danger was.

And he _definitely_ saw _that_ opportunity by wrapping his neck around Nami like a snake to get a closer look at the Log Pose.

“That one in the middle is wobbling a lot! That must be where the party is!” Luffy said cheerily as Nami cried in fear.

I shook my head from where I stood on _Sunny’s_ deck as Nami grabbed Luffy’s neck and started to strangle him. Robin giggled from where she stood next to me as Zoro smirked.

“Sounds like we’ve got our destination set, huh?” I looked over at Robin.

“Indeed,” Robin agreed. “Perhaps your friend is causing trouble there?”

“Hm. Maybe; I wouldn’t put it past her to get involved in something that’d get Luffy’s attention. Or cause something to happen that get our attention.”

“All right, everyone!” Franky called. “We’re ready to go!”

We looked over at Franky as he moved away from the helm to stand next to Den, the merman who’d coated our ship.

“Den-san taught me how to ascend too!” Franky gave a thumbs-up. “Shall we go?”

Luffy laughed. “Let’s go!”

As everyone else not already on the ship scrambled up, Camie, Hachi, and Pappagg moved out of the crowd waving at us.

“I’m gonna help with repairing the factory!” Hachi called. “Are you gonna be okay without a guide?”

“We’re fine!” Luffy replied. “We had a lot of fun on our way here!”

“Funny way of defining fun,” I commented dryly.

Usopp and Chopper roared angrily about ending up in hell eventually; I rolled my eyes at their angry dramaticism.

“Everybody! Come visit someday!” the mermaids called from below.

“I’ll come back!” Sanji called, lovestruck. “You’re the All Blue of my heart!”

“What a cheap dream,” Zoro muttered.

Fukaboshi came up next to our ship and shook Luffy’s hand; our captain’s hand disappeared inside the prince’s. “All I want to say is ‘Thank you’! I will pray for your safe trip.”

Luffy nodded.

“Next time we see you, we will lead the strongest army on the sea floor!” Manboshi declared, popping up. “Ooh, Mambo!”

“He’s right!” Ryuboshi popped up as well. “We will become greater than the Great Knight Neptune-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do!”

Luffy laughed. “Can’t wait!”

I gave a thumbs-up and grinned.

“Jimbei!”

I turned my head at Luffy’s call as the princes pulled back and caught sight of Jimbei standing near the shore, his usual gruff expression on his face before he smiled and nodded.

Luffy matched his smile with a grin, then turned to the rest of us. “All right! Spread the sail! Let’s go!”

As one, we promptly moved about the deck, getting the ship’s sails unfurled and started to move it towards Fishman Island’s single entrance and exit as the crowd seeing us off waved and called their farewells.

The cheering had all but stopped – and then Shirahoshi suddenly surfaced next to _Sunny_. “Luffy-sama!”

“Cry-hoshi!” Luffy yelped as our ship rocked, sending him falling to the deck face-first while the rest of us managed to barely keep our balance.

“Shirahoshi-chan!” Sanji’s “love tornado” legs were back in action.

“If I can see you again someday, I promise I won’t be a crybaby!” Shirahoshi promised. “Take me out for a fun stroll again!”

“A stroll?” Luffy repeated. “Do you wanna go to your mother’s grave again?”

“No, I wanna go somewhere further next time! I want to go to a real forest above ground!”

“Oh, yeah, you’ve never been out of the sea, have you?”

Never been out of the sea? Well, I could see why because who was going after her for the last ten years.

Luffy grinned. “Okay, fine! I’ll take you there next time!”

Shirahoshi smiled, wiping her tears away as she held out her other hand, closing most of her fingers _except_ for her pinky. “Will you promise?”

“Yeah, trust me!” Luffy swung his pinky around Shirahoshi’s large finger. “I promise!”

“Hey, Luffy!” Nami called. “We have to help you keep that promise!”

“Luffy-san, a promise is something you have to keep ay any cost,” Brook agreed.

“I think he knows that, guys,” I commented. I moved forward and put my pinky against Shirahoshi’s. “But I’m gonna promise, too.”

“Maria-sama!”

The others came over and put their pinkies against Shirahoshi’s as well.

Robin smiled. “We all promised her, so—“

“—We won’t let her down!” Brook finished.

“We promise!” we chorused.

Shirahoshi’s tears were falling freely. “E-everybody!”

“So don’t cry anymore!” Luffy said.

Shirahoshi wiped away her tears again. “Okay!”

Shirahoshi let go of the boat and pulled away, letting us move towards the main entrance and leave Fishman Island behind.

Sanji sighed happily and collapsed onto the deck. “I had a wonderful time! The Mermaid Paradise!”

I laughed and shook my head. “Yeah, it was a nice place to stop and get some rest before we kept going.”

“Now everybody, pull yourself together!” Nami called. “There is no safe place once we sail out!” She looked out at the water that – once again – surrounded our bubbled ship. “We have to pass through dark water again!”

Franky smirked and threw a bunch of wooden blocks connected together by rope out into the water, which only got me to look at him in confusion.

“What’s that, Franky?” Usopp asked.

“I’m gonna make the ship float with buoyant square logs of hollow Banyan,” Franky explained with a grin. “I can adjust the speed by how many I put out.”

“That’s pretty cool,” I commented.

“What’s the matter, Luffy?” Zoro looked over at Luffy as he stood at the figurehead.

“If we ascend here…” Luffy took off his hat and looked at it. “We’ll be at the sea where Shanks is!”

Ah, yeah – the pirate who had given Luffy his hat…and the guy who had been at Marineford right when we were leaving. A part of me wondered what he was going to be like, when we finally found him.

“I wanna see him!” Luffy declared. “Once we pass through this deep sea, we’ll get to the _ultimate_ sea!”

“Finally!” Zoro grinned. “I’ll cut everything away!”

“Wait for me, Laboon!” Brook called. “One more half to go!”

“Count on me!” Nami smirked. “I’ll navigate you anywhere you want!”

“That’s right!” Franky declared. “The _Sunny_ can do it!”

“I’ll heal you no matter how wounded you are!” Chopper called.

“We’ll never go hungry while I’m here,” Sanji added.

“You’ve got the warrior of the sea here too!” Usopp yelled.

Robin laughed.

“Wait for me, Airam,” I said with a determined look. “I’ll get you back what you’ve been missing – and hopefully bring you back to your senses!”

Luffy laughed and threw his arms back. “Let’s go, guys! To the New World!”

**Space Rip**

_::And you’re certain that these devices will keep them in check::_

“Absolutely.”

_::Hmm…I am going to need test subjects, you realize::_

“Well, obviously. Zihi! And I can think of a few people who you might be able to get as _excellent_ guinea pigs. They should be coming up through to the New World and reach this island soon. I could bring them here if you wanted me to.”

_::…very well. Do what you must::_

“Zihihihihihihihi! You won’t regret it, Vegapunk!”

**Space rip – Maria’s POV**

Getting back up to the surface was…interesting.

“What the heck, guys?” I came back up from the stores belowdecks, carrying a small booklet with me that I’d found on one of the crates. “Can’t we get to our next destination _without_ getting the ship tossed around? What just happened?”

“Maria!” Nami glared down at me from one of the upper decks. “Where were you when these morons decided they wanted to go deep-sea fishing, and then we ended up getting caught up in a Whitestrom?!”

“A what?” I frowned. “I was checking something out – Shakky said she’d found a way to make something with the Berries that were on my trees in the last couple of years; I just wanted to know what it was! How was I supposed to know that they were gonna pull something like that?”

“Hey, what’s that black wall?”

I turned my head at Luffy’s question, only to wince as loud screams of fear rocketed across the deck when a large eye opened up and looked down at us.

“A monster!” everyone screamed.

I winced at the screams; it’d been a _lot_ more quiet down in the stores with the crates of food and drink.

The eye looked at us for a moment, then closed and the “black wall” moved out of the way, flapping a fin at us.

Wait, a fin?

Robin had caught on. “Wait, don’t tell me it’s—“

A loud, low tone echoed through the water, causing me to wince at it and cover my ears.

“I can hear it singing!” Nami’s voice was muted over the noise. “It must be….”

The large sea creature moved far enough away from us that we were able to see what exactly it was – a large _whale._ And there wasn’t just that one, either.

“Wow, it’s a pod of whales!” Luffy marveled. He noticed one whale in particular. “Oh, those scars! Wait – Laboon?!”

“What?” I blinked in surprise as Brook started tearing up.

“Laboon! You got so much bigger!” the skeleton cried.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Usopp replied. “Laboon should be in the first half of the Grand Line. He’s gigantic! He can’t fit through a hole in the Red Line!”

Ah.

“It’s like a miracle to come across a pod of Island Whales,” Robin marveled.

“Some of them have scars like Laboon,” Zoro noted.

“Yeah, the scars look the same!” Luffy agreed. “I can’t believe it! But it’s not Laboon?!”

Brook started tearfully singing Binks’ Sake. “Laboon! Stop! Listen to me! It’s me from the Rumbar Pirates! Brook!”

“Come to your senses!” Usopp shook the skeleton. “That’s a different whale!”

“Laboon!”

“We’re not a whale watching crew!” Sanji burst out. “It’s still dangerous out here! Let me call roll to make sure no one got lost in the whirlpool! Nami-san!”

“Yes!” Nami called.

“Maria-san!”

“Right over here, cook,” I replied, giving a nod from where I stood near the main mast. I knew where this was gonna go.

“Robin-chan!”

“Here,” Robin replied calmly.

“Okay, we gotta get out of here now! The ship will be destroyed if those giant whales crash into us!” Sanji pointed ahead dramatically.

“Why didn’t you call our names?!” Chopper cried.

“Sanji-kun!” Usopp cried. “Six more of us are alive and well here too!”

“Nami-san, what should we do?” Sanji was really trying to take action here.

Nami considered his question, then answered, “Let’s not do anything.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t do anything, fools! Let’s watch the whales now!”

I facepalmed with the booklet I’d found in the storeroom.

“What’s that, Maria?”

I looked up at Usopp’s question. “Oh, this? It’s something that Shakky left me in one of the storerooms. Apparently, she found out a way to make my Berries into alcoholic drinks and left me the instructions.” I lifted the booklet as proof.

Zoro’s head nearly turned one hundred eighty degrees to stare at me with that gleam in his eye he gets whenever anyone mentions booze. “I think I’d like to try some of that.”

“Later,” I said. “I think we don’t need you inebriated while we’re trying to get up to the surface.”

“These giant whales are creating a current, so it’d be dangerous to go against it,” Nami called. “Tighten the sails! Turn the ship in the direction the whales are heading!”

We quickly moved to do just that as Brook started calling to the whales, asking if they’d lost a calf fifty years ago and telling them that Laboon was doing okay on the other side of the world.

And, once we’d managed to get the ship going in the fight direction, we could hear Brook singing Binks’ Sake from the mast on the back of the ship.

The whales certainly seemed to like it – one of them even bumped up under us and let _Sunny_ rest on his head like when Surume had brought us down to Fishman Island.

“Looks like they’re going upward too!” Nami commented.

“Lucky break for us, then,” I commented. “We’ll be up at the surface in less time than if we were just trying to get up there on our own.”

Nami nodded in agreement as Brook finished up his song.

It didn’t take long before the sea started to lighten up; I could see beams of sunlight coming down above us.

“It’s the New World, the final sea of the Grand Line, up above us!” Nami exclaimed.

“I can’t wait!” Luffy grinned, then ran up and jumped onto the figurehead.

His excitement was infectious.

“Let’s do it, guys! Ten!”

We started counting down as we very, very quickly started to reach the surface.

“Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!”

We _exploded_ out onto the surface—

And we were _instantly_ pelted with rain and lightning as the surface of the sea rocked with the force of a storm.

“We’re out!” Luffy called.

“In the New World!” the rest of us joined together over the calls of the Island Whales.

“We did it!” Luffy exclaimed.

“We finally made it!” Franky called.

“This isn’t time to celebrate yet!” Usopp yelled.

The bubble popped.

We dropped down to the ocean’s surface, very quickly getting us all sopping wet from the force of the water raining down on us.

“I had heard about it, but it’s more than I expected!” Usopp yelped. “The New World has really bad weather!”

Brook laughed. “The sky is filled with thunder!”

“The wind is so strong!” Robin said with a smile.

The sea is very rough!” Franky called from the helm. I could tell he was grinning.

“The needle is going crazy!” Nami reported as she looked at her new Log Pose.

“I can see red waters ahead!” Chopper reported.

“A raging ocean of fire!” Sanji was grinning.

“It’s like we’re standing at the gates of hell!” Zoro’s grin was just as wide.

I cracked my knuckles, grinning. “Let’s see what monsters are waiting within to welcome us here!”

“Bring it on!” Luffy crowed from the figurehead.

Well, hello, New World. Let’s see what you’ve got waiting for us!

 


End file.
